IC-NRLF 


SB    Sfl3    SMI 


LIBRARY 

OF    THK 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

OIKT  OK 


Received  c^x-d^- 

Accession  No.  /  4^-4^  &  &     •    Class  No. 


Richardson,  William  Adams;  a  Sketch  of 
the  Life  and  Public  Services  of —  by 
Frank  Warren  Hackett:  Washington, 
1898. 


This  book  is  presented  to  your  Library 
by  the  Estate  of  the  late  William  Adams 
Richardson. 

Kindly  notify 

CHAUNCEY  CRAVEN  HACKETT, 
1418  M  Street, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
of  its  receipt. 


OF  THB 

TJNIVERSITY 


A  SKETCH  OF  THE  LIFE  AND 
PUBLIC  SERVICES 


OF 


WILLIAM     ADAMS     RICHARDSON 


BY 
FRANK   WARREN   HACKETT 


privately 


Of  THB 


WASHINGTON 
1898 


COPYRIGHT,  1898, 

BY 

FRANK  WARREN  HACKETT. 


PRESS  OF  H.  L.  MCQUEEN, 
WASHINGTON. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  WILLIAM  ADAMS  RICHARDSON. 
SKETCH  OF  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICES 


1-145 


II.  APPENDIX. 

i.  MEETING  OF  THE  BAR  OF  THE  COUKT  OF 

CLAIMS iii-xxxix 

REMARKS  OF 

WILLIAM  A.  MAURY iv-x 

BELVA  A.  LOCKWOOD xi 

JOHN  W.  DOUGLASS xii-xiii 

JOHN  B.  COTTON xiv-xxii 

GEORGE  A.  KING xxiii-xxvi 

JOHN  C.  CHANEY xxvii-xxix 

WILLIAM  B.  KING xxx-xxxv 

CHARLES  B.  HOWRY xxxvi-xxxix 

ii.  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  COURT. 
REMARKS  OF 
ASSISTANT     ATTORNEY  -  GENERAL 

JOSHUA  ERIC  DODGE     .....  xl-xlii 

MR.  GEORGE  S.  BOUTWELL     .    .    .  xliii-1 

JUDGE  WELDON  1-lvii 


in.  REPORT  OF  THE  METHOD  ADOPTED  BY 
ASSISTANT  SECRETARY  RICHARDSON, 
AT  LONDON,  TO  KEEP  SAFE  THE 
MONEY  RECEIVED  FROM  SALE  OF  THE 
FUNDED  LOAN Iviii-lxix 

iv.    DEGREES,  COMMISSIONS,  ETC.,  HELD  BY 

WILLIAM  ADAMS  RICHARDSON  .    .    .          Ixx-lxxv 

V.  A  PARTIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THE 
PUBLISHED  WRITINGS  OF  WlLLIAM 

ADAMS  RICHARDSON Ixxvi-lxxviii 

III.  INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


To  THE  READER. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
William  Adams  Richardson  upwards  of  thirty  years  ago, 
when  both  of  us  were  living  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 
He  was  then  judge  of  probate  and  insolvency  for  Middle 
sex  county,  while  I  had  but  recently  opened  a  law  office 
in  Boston.  For  a  brief  season  we  met  daily  at  the  table 
of  the  famous  boarding  house  kept  by  Miss  Upham,  on 
Kirkland  street,  near  the  college. 

Early  in  1873  my  removal  to  Washington,  where  I 
have  ever  since  practiced  my  profession,  afforded  me  an 
opportunity,  which  I  was  glad  to  improve,  of  continuing 
our  acquaintance.  Though  his  junior  by  many  years,  I 
was  honored  by  being  to  a  certain  extent  admitted  to  the 
confidence  of  his  friendship.  The  better  I  came  to  know 
the  man,  the  more  highly  I  esteemed  him. 

Shortly  after  Judge  Richardson's  death  one  of  the  ex 
ecutors  of  his  will  placed  in  my  hands  a  letter  addressed 
to  myself.  The  Judge  had  written  it  without  date.  In 
modest  terms  he  had  expressed  a  wish  that  I  might  pre 
pare  a  sketch  of  his  life,  to  be  printed  and  copies  distrib 
uted  to  friends,  and  to  various  public  libraries.  This  office 
I  have  cheerfully  accepted,  solicitous  only  that  his  true 
proportions  may  be  made  to  appear,  and  the  leading  fea 
tures  of  his  important  public  service  be  adequately  set 
forth. 


Upon  the  whole  record  of  his  achievements  I  am  of 
the  deliberate  conviction  that  Richardson  was  an  abler 
and  a  more  valuable  public  official  than  has  been  com 
monly  supposed.  The  reader  who  shall  peruse  the  nar 
rative  —  particularly  if  he  weigh  the  testimony  of  the  bar 
and  of  the  court  given  in  the  proceedings  as  printed  in 
the  Appendix  —  is  already  in  a  fair  way,  I  believe,  to 
reach  a  like  conclusion. 

Judge  Richardson  loved  the  truth,  and  despised  any 
thing  that  savored  of  pretense.  I  have  tried  to  tell  a 
plain,  straightforward  story  of  his  remarkably  useful  life, 
knowing  that  he  himself  would  have  wished  the  facts, — 
precisely  as  they  occurred, — presented  with  simplicity  and 
candor. 

FRANK  WARREN  HACKETP. 
CRAIGHFEN, 

NEW  CASTLE,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE, 
SO  September,  1898. 


ri 


SKETCH   OF  LIFE 


WILLIAM  ADAMS   RICHARDSON 


OF  THE  tier  of  towns  that  stretch  along  the 
New  Hampshire  line,  in  Middlesex  County, 
Massachusetts,  all  of  them  attractive  in  the 
season  of  summer,  none  is  fairer  than  little 
Tyngsborough.  With  fields  well  tilled  and 
comfortable  dwellings,  pleasantly  shaded,  her 
territory,  cut  in  two  as  it  is  by  the  broad  arid 
placid  stream  of  the  Merrimack,  presents  to  the 
traveller  at  well-nigh  every  turn  a  picture  of 
rural  delight. 

She  has  the  name  of  Tyngsborough  all  to  her 
self.  Not  another  spot  on  the  globe  is  so  entitled. 
A  part  of  "  Dunstable  Plantation "  it  used  to  be, 
when  land  was  cheaper  and  towns  bigger.  One 
Edward  Tyng,  it  seems,  born  in  the  mother 
country,  about  1600,  had  married  Mary  Sears, 
who,  tradition  says,  came  from  Dunstable, 
England.  He  emigrated  to  Boston  where  he  rose 
to  be  a  person  of  consequence,  after  which, 
stimulated  by  your  true  Englishman's  craving  for 
broad  acres,  he  spied  out  a  tract  of  some  three  or 
four  thousand  overlooking  the  Merrimack  at  this 


beautiful  site,  and  made  it  his  own.  Hither  he 
removed  and  had  descendants.  "Dunstable"  is 
said  to  have  been  named  in  1673  in  compliment 
to  Mistress  Mary  Tyng;  while  it  was  left  to  later 
somebodies  to  bestow  the  oddity  of  the  surname 
upon  the  modest  borough  carved  out  of  a  grander 
domain.* 

As  in  duty  bound  her  local  historian  sounds 
Tyngsborough's  praises,  the  starting  place,  he 
tells  us,  of  boys  who  grew  to  be  distinguished ; 
and,  truth  to  say,  for  so  small  a  place  there  has 
been  a  deal  of  happening  there  that  the  world 
ought  more  or  less  to  keep  in  mind,  notably 
in  the  way  of  births. 

Among  these  who  going  out  of  this  quiet  town 
have  gained  worldly  success  and  honors,  no  one 
has  reached  higher  distinction  than  WILLIAM 
ADAMS  RICHARDSON,  born  at  Tyngsborough,  2 
November,  1821,  who  became  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury;  and  who,  when  he  died  at  Washington, 
19  October,  1896,  was  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court 
of  Claims  of  the  United  States. 

The  writer  is  about  to  attempt  to  outline  the 
main  features  of  the  busy  and  exceptionabh7 
useful  life  of  this  eminent  public  servant,  well 

*"  Their  great-grand-daughter,  Madam  Sarah  Tyng  Winslow,  nearly  a 
century  and  a  quarter  later,  became  the  benefactress  of  a  portion  of  the 
plantation,  and  in  honor  of  her  family  name  the  new  town  in  1809  was 
christened  Tyngsborough."  MS.  letter  of  J.  Franklin  Bancroft,  of 
borough,  30  August,  1898. 


aware  that  perhaps  little  more  need  be  done  than 
to  recount  the  numerous  stations  of  trust  and 
responsibility  to  which,  one  after  another,  he 
was  summoned,  and  tell  without  embellishment 
with  what  measure  of  fidelity  he  filled  each  of 
them  in  turn. 

It  may  be  said  of  William  Adams  Richardson 
that  he  was  fortunate  of  descent.  He  could  carry 
up  his  line  through  generations  of  strong  and 
worthy  ancestors  of  English  breeding;  men 
whose  highest  aim  it  was  to  live  a  useful  life. 
The  earliest  known  progenitor  on  the  father's 
side  was  Ezekiel  Richardson,  who,  with  his  wife 
Susanna,  became  a  member  of  the  church  gath 
ered  at  Charlestown,  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  27 
August,  1630.  As  yet  it  has  not  come  to  light 
from  what  part  of  the  kingdom  Ezekiel  Richardson 
emigrated,  but  the  conjecture  is  not  altogether 
without  foundation  that  his  home  was  in  one  of 
the  southern  counties.  There  is  in  fact  scant  room 
for  doubt  that  the  ship  which  brought  him  to 
these  shores  was  one  of  the  fleet  bringing  over 
the  company  under  the  leadership  of  Wirithrop, 
in  the  spring  of  1630.  It  is  of  record  that 
Ezekiel  Richardson  was  admitted  as  a  freeman 
18  May,  1631. 

Sundry  entries  in  the  records  of  Charlestown 
testify  that  Ezekiel  Richardson  must  have  been 
a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  capacity.  His 


x< 

f  OF  THE 

ItTNIVERSITY 


landed  possessions,  as  recorded  in  1638,  were 
extensive;  in  fact,  be  ranks  among  the  largest 
owners,  while  his  brothers  Samuel  and  Thomas 
follow  close  upon  him  in  the  same  year,  their 
holdings  being  of  nearly  as  many  acres.*  The 
general  court  appointed  him  constable  at 
Charlestown  in  1633.  Later  he  was  chosen 
selectman,  and  sent  as  a  deputy  to  the  general 
court. 

The  most  noteworthy  entry  in  the  colony 
records  referring  to  the  Eichardsons  is  that  tell 
ing  of  his  attitude  towards  the  Reverend  John 
Wheelwright,  the  faithful  and  zealous  minister, 
who  afterwards  left  Massachusetts  and  founded 
Exeter,  in  New  Hampshire.  This  godly  man 
was  a  connection  by  marriage  of  Mistress  Anne 
Hutchinson.  The  religious  views  of  Mistress 
Hutchinson,  it  will  be  remembered,  threw  the 
community  of  Boston  Bay  into  agitation  ;  and  in 
the  controversy  that  fiercely  raged  over  the  doc 
trine  of  antinomianism  Wheelwright  did  not 
hesitate  to  take  sides  with  her.  These  views 
were  in  reality  approved  by  a  large  proportion  of 
the  members  of  the  Boston  church,  though  the 
Puritan  authorities  held  them  in  abhorrence. 
With  unsparing  rigor  the  general  court  caused 
to  be  made  known  its  disapproval  of  such  sedi- 

*  Report  of  Record  Commissioners  containing  Charlestown  land  records 
1638-1802  (2nd  edition)  Boston,  1883— pp.  3,  4,  and  5, 


tious  teachings  as  that  of  Mistress  Hutchinson; 
and  straightway  passed  sentence  upon  the  clergy 
man  who  had  lent  support  to  her  obnoxious 
sentiments. 

The  current  of  popular  feeling,  however,  set 
strongly  in  Wheelwright's  favor,  and  many  of 
the  best  people,  as  well  as  "  the  humblest  artisans 
and  day-laborers,"  hastened  to  come  forward  and 
sign  their  names  to  a  petition  of  remonstrance  in 
his  behalf.  This  occurred  in  March,  1637.  The 
names  of  the  remonstrants  are  preserved.  Ten 
persons  likewise  are  designated  upon  the  record, 
who  having  subscribed  the  document  had  later 
the  comfort  of  seeing  their  names  erased  "  on 
acknowledgment  of  their  sin  in  subscribing  it." 
Among  the  ten  names  we  find  that  of  Ezekiel 
Richardson,  who  thus  escaped  being  disarmed ;  to 
say  nothing  of  other  and  worse  penalties  which 
a  facing  of  the  disapproval  of  the  magistrates 
would  have  brought  upon  him.  A  modern 
writer  remarks,  naively  enough,  of  Ezekiel  Rich 
ardson's  conduct :  "  It  is  creditable  to  his  mem 
ory  that  he  was  willing  to  abandon  an  enterprise 
in  which  he  had  conscientiously  but  unwisely 
embarked."  * 

The  two  younger  brothers  just  mentioned, 
Samuel  and  Thomas,  it  is  thought  came  to  New 

*  The  Richardson  Memorial,  by  John  Adams  Vinton,  (Portland,  187G)  p. 
33— a  genealogical  work  to  which  the  present  writer  is  much  indebted. 


England  in  1636,  six  years  later  than  Ezekiel. 
We  find  the  record  of  land  assigned  to  the  three 
brothers  30  April,  1637,  on  "  Misticke  side  and 
above  the  Pond,"  that  is  to  say,  in  what  is  now 
Maiden.  Four  years  afterward  (1641)  the  three 
Richardsons,  in  company  with  six  other  persons, 
founded  the  town  of  Woburn,  not  far  from 
Charlestown.  The  brothers  lived  near  each  other 
in  the  same  street,  which,  because  it  had  been 
continuously  occupied  by  their  posterity  for  years, 
long  since  gained  the  name  of  "  Richardson's 
Row."  The  row  formed  a  portion  of  Washington 
street  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Winchester. 
Ezekiel  Richardson  played  a  conspicuous  part  in 
the  public  affairs  of  the  community  he  had  helped 
to  establish.  He  was  named,  with  two  others 
(who  were  deacons  in  the  church)  "  to  end  small 
causes  under  twenty  shillings." 

After  a  life  of  much  stir  and  activity,  though 
apparently  not  prolonged  beyond  five  and  forty 
years,  he  died  at  Woburn,  21  October,  1647.  His 
will  is  on  file  in  Boston.  The  inventory  of  his 
estate  amounts  to  a  total  of  one  hundred  and 
ninety  pounds. 

The  second  son  of  Ezekiel  and  Susanna  Rich 
ardson  was  Josiah,  baptized  at  Charlestown,  7 
November,  1635.  He  was  married  June,  1659,  at 
Concord,  to  Remembrance  Underwood  of  that 
town.  He  thereupon  removed  with  his  brother 


7 

James  to  Chelmsford,  a  town  pleasantly  seated  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Merrimack.  Here  Josiah 
Richardson  promptly  came  to  the  front  as  a 
man  of  enterprise  and  a  leading  citizen.  Joining 
with  two  others  he  built  the  first  saw-mill  of 
the  town.  He  was  chosen  constable  and  town 
clerk,  as  well  as  selectman ;  and  the  military 
company  elected  him  captain,  no  empty  honor  in 
those  days  of  threatened  trouble  with  a  savage 
foe.  From  the  record  in  the  Middlesex  county 
registry  of  a  conveyance  executed  by  two  of 
Eliot's  Indians,  dated  19  January,  1688,  we  learn 
that  Captain  Josiah  Richardson  once  owned  that 
portion  of  the  territory  on  which  now  stand 
nearly  all  of  the  large  manufactories  of  the  city  of 
Lowell.  It  may  not  be  advisable  for  us  at  this 
late  date  to  probe  too  deeply  into  the  nature  of 
the  consideration  recited  as  supporting  this  deed. 
According  to  the  language  of  the  record,  the 
Indians  conveyed  the  land  for  "  ye  love  we  bear 
for  ye  beforesaid  Josiah." 

This  latter  ancestor  had  an  elder  son,  also  of 
the  name  of  Josiah,  who  was  born  at  Chelmsford, 
18  May,  1665.  He  likewise  attained  to  military 
honors,  enjoying  the  title  of  lieutenant.  On 
14  December,  1687,  Josiah  Richardson  married 
Mercy  Parish  of  Dunstable,  a  town  at  that  time 
in  Massachusetts,  now  Nashua  in  New  Hampshire. 
Though  not  advanced  to  so  many  or  so  high 


8 

honors  as  his  father,  Lieutenant  Josiah  appears 
to  have  reached  a  prominence  in  public  affairs 
somewhat  similar  to  that  of  both  father  and 
grandfather.  He  was  called  by  the  people  of 
Chelmsford  to  the  office  of  selectman,  and  like 
wise  to  that  of  town  clerk.  He  led  the  quiet  life 
of  a  farmer  near  Concord  river.  He  appears  to 
have  been  fairly  well  provided  with  what  in  those 
days  must  have  proved  a  prime  requisite  for 
carrying  on  a  farm, — namely,  children.  Accord 
ing  to  the  records,  Josiah  and  Mercy  Richardson 
were  blessed  with  four  sons  and  two  daughters, 
all  born  at  Chelmsford.  Of  these  the  youngest, 
William,  first  saw  the  light  of  day  19  September, 
1701. 

It  was  the  fortune  of  William  Richardson  to 
carry  on  a  farm,  like  his  ancestors.  Upon  reach 
ing  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  was  married  to 
Elizabeth  Colburn,  of  Dracut,  a  town  near  the 
present  city  of  Lowell.  He  settled  in  what  later 
became  Pelham,  New  Hampshire,  which  territory 
having  originally  formed  a  portion  of  the  town 
of  Dracut,  in  Massachusetts,  found  itself  in  1741 
across  the  line  as  a  part  of  another  state.  Pelham 
was  incorporated  as  a  town  in  1746,  and  in  1751 
had  its  meeting  house,  and  a  minister  to  whom 
was  voted,  in  addition  to  his  salary,  "  twenty-five 
cords  of  fire-wood  annually." 

Here  William  Richardson  passed  an  uneventful 


life,  except  that  there  fell  to  him  the  family  inher 
itance  of  a  military  title,  for  he  served  as  captain 
in  the  militia  for  many  years.  The  people  of 
Pelham  sent  him  to  represent  them  in  the  general 
court.  He  lived  to  a  good,  old  age,  long  enough, 
in  fact,  to  have  heard  the  opening  guns  of  the 
Revolution.  His  death  occurred  at  Pelham  some 
time  later  than  the  early  part  of  1776;  his 
will  dated  the  1st  of  April  that  year,  having 
been  proved  on  the  7th  of  November  following. 
William  and  Elizabeth  Richardson  had  nine 
children,  the  youngest  of  whom  was  Daniel,  born 
in  Pelham,  1749.  He  was  the  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch. 

Arrangements  appear  to  have  been  made  to 
confer  upon  Daniel  Richardson  the  advantages  of 
a  college  education.  To  this  end  his  father  sent 
him  to  Dracut  (not  far,  to  be  sure)  in  order  that 
he  might  recite  Latin  to  the  Reverend  Mr.  Davis 
of  that  town.  How  faithfully  the  young  man 
pursued  his  studies  we  are  not  informed,  but  he 
improved  the  opportunity  there,  it  seems,  to  fall 
in  love  with  Sarah  Merchant,*  a  daughter  of 
William  Merchant  of  Boston.  Mrs.  Merchant, 
her  mother,  was  Abigail  Hutchinson,  a  sister  of 
Governor  Hutchinson.  Miss  Merchant  favored  her 

*  Sarah  Merchant  was  the  oldest  of  several  orphan  children.  Care  of 
her  had  been  committed  to  her  uncle,  Mr.  Dennie,  of  Boston,  a  brother 
of  her  mother.  Being  a  single  man,  he  sent  Sarah  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
to  board  and  be  educatedwith  the  family  of  Reverend  Mr.  Davis  of  Dracut. 
Mrs.  Richardson  is  said  to  have  been  a  woman  of  great  ability  and  energy. 


10 

suitor,  and  the  result  was  an  early  marriage,  on 
26  January,  1773.  Their  union  had  the  effect  to 
change  entirely  the  course  of  Daniel  Richardson's 
life,  for  instead  of  going  to  college,  he  betook 
himself  to  tilling  the  soil,  living  in  Pelham  on  a 
farm,  a  part  of  which  belonged  to  his  father. 

Daniel,  as  might  be  expected,  had  inherited 
the  Richardson  taste  for  military  service.  In 
those  stirring  times,  it  was  not  uncommon  for  the 
farmer  to  be  transformed  at  short  notice  into  the 
soldier.  Daniel  Richardson  shouldered  his  musket, 
and  did  his  share  of  service  in  the  revolutionary 
war.  He  enlisted  1  January,  1777,  in  the  First 
New  Hampshire  Regiment,  Colonel  Joseph  Cilley, 
and  served  until  5  January,  1780.*  Mention  is 
made  of  his  having  fought  in  the  battle  of  Mon- 
mouth,  28  June,  1778.  In  the  following  summer 
he  was  of  the  expedition  led  by  General  Sullivan 
into  the  Indian  country,  in  the  western  part  of 
the  state  of  New  York.  Upon  returning  home  he 
became  captain  of  a  military  company  in  New 
Hampshire. 

Everything  that  we  learn  of  Daniel  Richardson 
stamps  him  as  a  man  of  firm  character,  and 
worthy  of  the  marked  respect  in  which  he 
appears  to  have  been  held  by  his  neighbors.  He 
lived  to  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-four,  and  died  at 

*  History  of  the  First  New  Hampshire  Regiment  in  the  War  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  by  Frederick  Kiddcr,  Albany,  1868. 


11 

Pelham  23  May,  1833.  His  children  were  three 
sons,  all  born  in  Pelham;  William  Merchant, 
born  4  January,  1774;  Samuel  Mather,  born  12 
February,  1776 ;  Daniel,  born  19  January,  1783. 

Of  these  sons  the  eldest,  William  Merchant 
Richardson,  achieved  an  honorable  distinction  as 
chief  justice  of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  grad 
uated  from  Harvard  College,  in  the  class  of  1797, 
with  Horace  Binney,  Daniel  Appleton  White  and 
John  Collins  Warren  as  classmates.  For  a  season 
he  was  preceptor  at  Groton  Academy.  Studying 
law  with  Samuel  Dana,  of  Groton,  he  later  became 
a  partner  of  that  distinguished  man.  The  people 
sent  Mr.  Richardson  as  representative  to  Con 
gress  from  the  Groton  district  in  1811,  to  fill  a 
vacancy.  He  shortly  afterwards  resigned  his 
seat  in  Congress  and  removed  to  New  Hamp 
shire,  where  he  was  made  United  States  attorney, 
with  his  office  at  Portsmouth.  Such  remarkable 
ability  did  he  display  from  the  beginning  that 
on  the  reorganization  of  the  courts  in  1816, 

Governor  Plumer  sent  in  his  name  to  be  chief 

• 

justice  of  the  highest  court  of  the  state,  and  he  was 
unanimously  confirmed,  in  spite  of  the  intensity 
with  which  party  spirit  raged  at  that  season. 
This  high  office  Chief  Justice  Richardson  filled 
until  his  death,  for  a  period  of  twenty-two  years, 
to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  bar  and  the  people 
of  the  state. 


12 

When  the  new  chief  justice  came  to  the  bench, 
there  were  no  published  reports  of  adjudicated 
cases.  He  at  once  set  about  to  remedy  the  defect. 
He  introduced  a  number  of  improvements  in  the 
methods  of  practice.  To  the  end  that  stability 
and  harmony  might  be  insured  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  inferior  judicial  offices,  he  prepared 
manuals  respectively  for  justices  of  the  peace, 
sheriffs  and  town  officers,  containing  all  needful 
forms  and  directions.  In  a  word/the  chief  justice 
to  the  last  proved  himself  to  be  a  man  of  original 
ideas,  with  plenty  of  courage  and  energy  to  put 
them  into  operation. 

The  ability  and  remarkable  activity  that  he 
evinced  in  this  elevated  position  gained  for  Wil 
liam  Merchant  Richardson  a  reputation  which  is 
to-day  one  of  the  cherished  possessions  of  the 
people  of  New  Hampshire.  It  has  lately  been 
said  of  him  by  a  writer  well  qualified  to  express 
an  opinion  that,  with  the  exception  of  Judge 
Jeremiah  Smith,  perhaps  no  occupant  of  the 
judicial  bench  has  done  so  much  as  he  to  shape 
the  jurisprudence  of  that  state.* 

Chief  Justice  Richardson  is  to  be  remembered 
as  a  man  of  greater  attainments  than  those  of  a 
mere  lawyer.  In  various  directions  he  may  be 
styled  a  man  of  learning.  He  maintained  through 

*  Bench  and  Bar  of  New  Hampshire,  by  Charles  Henry  Bell,  Boston, 
1892,  p.  72. 


13 

life  a  familiarity  with  the  classics;  and  in  a  com 
munity  where  such  accomplishments  were  by  no 
means  frequent,  he  had  become  admirably  well 
versed  in  French,  Italian  and  Spanish.  Of  botany 
he  knew  much ;  and  he  was  something  too  of  a 
musician.  Indeed,  there  were  exhibited  in  Chief 
Justice  Richardson  unusual  intellectual  powers 
coupled  with  a  deep-settled  determination  to  be 
useful  by  mastering  thoroughly  the  subject  in 
hand,  qualities  destined  to  shine  forth  at  a  later 
day  in  the  person  of  his  nephew,  the  late  chief 
justice  of  the  Court  of  Claims. 

Of  General  Samuel  M.  Richardson,  the  second 
son,  it  may  be  briefly  noted  that  he  lived  in  Pelham, 
where  he  achieved  prominence  as  an  active  and 
public-spirited  citizen.  For  twelve  years  he  was 
sent  as  representative  to  the  general  court;  he 
became  a  state  senator,  and  served  in  the  war  of 
1812  as  a  major  in  the  army.  He  likewise 
enjoyed  the  rank  of  brigadier-general  of  the 
militia.  General  Richardson  died  at  Pelham,  11 
March,  1858,  leaving  a  handsome  estate,  a  portion 
of  which  he  gave  to  charity.  Of  this  will  his 
nephews,  Daniel  S.  Richardson  and  William  A. 
Richardson,  then  both  of  Lowell,  were  executors 
and  trustees. 

The  third  son,  Daniel,  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  if  less  conspicuous  than  his  brothers, 
was  a  man  of  like  strength  of  character  and  of 


14 

much  native  ability.  He  studied  law  at  Groton,  in 
the  office  of  Samuel  Dana,  at  the  time  his  brother, 
William  Merchant  Richardson,  was  Mr.  Dana's 
law  partner. 

Upon  admission  to  the  bar  young  Richardson 
selected  as  the  scene  of  his  future  professional 
triumphs  the  retired  town  of  Tyngsborough , 
eight  miles  from  Lowell,  and  twenty-five  from 
Boston.  The  choice  was  certainly  a  modest  one, 
for  Tyngsborough  though  an  attractive  place  of 
residence  was  not  populous,  nor  had  it  showed 
signs  of  ever  becoming  such.  It  was  almost 
exclusively  an  agricultural  community.  There 
were'  a  saw  and  grist  mill,  and  a  small  water- 
power  shop,  but  they  did  not  much  disturb  the 
quiet  of  the  village.  A  stage  from  Amherst, 
New  Hampshire,  to  Boston,  passed  through  the 
town,  and  the  Middlesex  canal  company -had  a 
wharf  here — and  these  were  the  chief  activities. 

But  young  Richardson  doubtless  knew  his  lim 
itations.  He  was  at  any  rate  resolute  and  fond 
of  work.  He  exhibited  traits  of  business  that 
soon  attracted  the  notice  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  before  long  clients  had  found  their  way  to 
the  country  law  office.*  Indeed,  if  we  may  credit 

*  "  His  law  office  was  situated  in  the  store  of  the  village  merchant, 
that  kind  that  kept  cod-fish,  silk,  N.  E.  rum,  and  thread  all  on  one  shelf. 
The  post-office  was  in  the  store.  There  were  two  other  lawyers  in  town 
at  that  time,  Charles  Butterfield,  (Harvard,  1820)  brother  of  his  first  wife  ; 
and  John  Farwell,  though  neither  of  them  practiced  very  much."  MS, 
letter  oj  J.  Franklin  Bancroft,  21  August,  1898. 


15 

the  statement  of  a  former  sheriff  of  Middlesex  (and 
nobody  watches  young  lawyers  more  sharply  than 
the  sheriff),  Daniel  Richardson  at  the  opening  of 
the  term  of  court  used  to  enter  more  suits  than 
any  other  lawyer  in  the  county. 

Mr.  Richardson  was  one  of  that  class  of  prac 
titioners  who  can  readily  turn  a  hand  to  the 
performance  of  some  useful  or  profitable  duty  not 
altogether  within  the  strict  line  of  the  profession. 
He  was  made  postmaster  of  the  town;  and  he 
must  have  distributed  the  mail  to  general  sat 
isfaction  since  he  held  the  appointment  for  the 
long  period  of  thirty-five  years.  Of  course,  such 
a  man  found  his  way  into  the  general  court; 
and  he  went  there  as  a  whig  representative  of  the 
town.  He  was  elected  state  senator  for  two  or 
three  terms,  and  he  occupied  from  time  to  time 
town  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility.* 

His  was  a  life  that  knew  no  idle  moments.  At 
the  age  of  fifty -nine  years  Daniel  Richardson  died 
at  Tyngsborough,  12  February,  1842,  respected 
and  lamented  by  all  who  knew  him.  The  first 
wife  of  Daniel  Richardson  was  Betsey  Butterfield, 
daughter  of  Asa  and  Abiah  (Coburn)  Butterfield  of 
Tyngsborough,  to  whom  he  was  married  10  May, 
1810.  She  died  young  without  issue.  In  April, 

*  "  He  owned  several  houses  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  and  was  what 
was  called  in  those  days  '  well  to  do.'  "—Ibid. 


16 

1816,  he  was  married  to  Mary,*  second  daughter 
of  William  and  Mary  (Roby)  Adams  of  Chelms- 
ford.  Of  this  marriage  there  were  two  children, 
both  born  at  Tyngsborough,  Daniel  Samuel,  born 
1  December,  1816,  and  William  Adams,  the  sub 
ject  of  this  sketch,  born  2  November,  1821. 
Says  Mr.  Bancroft : 

When  Daniel  Richardson  came  to  Tyngsborough  he 
rented  one-half  of  a  house  near  the  centre  on  the  Dunstable 
road.  This  house  was  large,  square  and  substantial,  with 
"  brick  ends."  It  stood  a  little  back  from  the  road  on  a  slight 
eminence  commanding  a  fine  view  of  a  handsome  sheet  of 
water,  with  the  wooded  hills  of  the  Tyng  farm  bounding  the 
horizon  to  the  south  ;  nearer  hills  shut  off  the  view  and  cold 
winds  on  the  west,  north  and  east.  It  was  in  this  house  that 
the  Judge  took  his  first  gasp  of  New  England  weather  in  1821. 


*Mary  (Adams)  Richardson,  the  mother  of  the  chief  justice  of  the 
Court  of  Claims,  was  herself  descended  from  Ezekiel,  the  first  settler.  Her 
father,  William  Adams,  was  a  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Richardson) 
Adams  of  Chelmsford,  Elizabeth  Richardson  being  descended  from  John, 
Josiah  and  Ezekiel.  Mary  (Adams)  Richardson's  mother  was  Mary  Roby, 
daughter  of  William  and  Hannah  (Lund)  Roby  of  Dunstable,  now 
Nashua,  New  Hampshire.  William  Roby  was  a  second  lieutenant  in  a 
New  Hampshire  regiment  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  afterwards  first  lieutenant 
in  Col.  Bedell's  (N.  H.)  regiment,  was  taken  prisoner  in  Canada  and  died 
in  the  service.  William  Adams,  the  maternal  grandfather  of  the  chief 
justice,  was  descended  from  Henry  Adams,  who  came  from  Braintree  in 
Essex,  it  is  thought  in  1634,  and  settled  in  that  part  of  Braintree  which 
is  now  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  the  line  being  Henry,  Samuel,  Joseph, 
Benjamin,  William.  He  was  born  at  Chelmsford  30  April,  1762,  and  died 
there  25  December,  1843.  When  a  lad  of  fifteen  he  enlisted  as  a  revolu 
tionary  soldier,  and  served  for  six  months.  Then  he  enlisted  again  and 
served  for  eight  months.  In  a  family  record,  written  by  him  in  mature  life, 
he  says  : 

"  While  I  was  in  service  at  West  Point,  I  witnessed  the  execution  of 
Major  Andre,  which  made  so  lasting  an  impression  on  my  mind  that  it  is 
with  tender  and  melancholy  feelings  that  I  look  back  upon  that  time." 

He  was  a  revolutionary  pensioner. 


17 

Later  in  life  "  the  Squire  "  moved  into  the  village  and  occupied 
a  house  built  by  Mr.  Adams,  his  father-in-law,  who  also  owned 
the  store,  and  perhaps  kept  it.* 

When  William  was  between  three  and  four 
years  of  age,  1  August,  1825,  his  mother  died.  In 
November  of  the  year  following,  his  father  was 
married  to  Hannah  Adams,  sister  of  the  late 
wife,  being  the  fourth  daughter  of  the  same 
parents.  The  only  child  of  this  marriage  was 
George  Francis  Richardson,  born  6  December, 
1829  (Harvard,  1850),  a  prominent  and  able 
lawyer  of  Lowell,  and  a  former  mayor  of  that 
city. 

Fortunately  the  child  was  not  suffered  to  feel 
the  absence  of  a  mother's  devotion,  for  a  sister 
of  his  mother,  as  we  see,  had  come  into  the 
household  to  bestow  upon  him  care  and  nurture. 
Of  William's  boyhood  few  incidents  have  been 
preserved;  and  we  are  left  to  conclude  that  it 
resembled  that  of  most  New  England  lads  brought 
up  under  discipline  strict,  yet  kindly,  in  families 
of  worth  and  refinement,  f 

*MS.  letter  of  J.  Franklin  Bancroft,  ante. 

f  Since  this  was  written  Mr.  J.  Franklin  Bancroft,  of  Tyngsborough, 
has  kindly  favored  the  writer  with  a  few  particulars  that  afford  us  a 
glimpse  of  what  sort  of  a  youngster  William  Richardson  must  have  been. 
The  subtle  flavor  of  Mr.  Bancroft's  style  ought  not  to  be  spoiled  by  any 
attempt  at  editing : 

"  You  ask  me  what  kind  of  a  boy  the  Judge  was.  I  put  the  question 
in  the  same  words  to  Mr.  J.  T.  Lund,  a  very  close  friend  of  the  Judge's 

in  their  school  days.  The  answer  was  forcible,  if  not  elegant— 'A  d 

good  one.' 

"  Everybody  says  he  was  a  real  New  England  live  Yankee  boy.   Thor- 


18 

Though  not  an  expert  at  out-of-door  sports,  he 
was  fond  of  skating,  as  what  boy  is  not  who  has 
ever  tasted  the  joys  of  a  New  England  winter. 
One  of  his  favorite  occupations  was  to  stuff  birds. 
He  must  have  been  somewhat  of  a  self-reliant 
youth.  It  is  known  at  least  that  he  early  showed 
a  disposition  to  be  careful  of  the  pennies  that 
were  given  him,  or  that  came  in  the  way  of  earn 
ings.  A  more  trivial  fact  related  of  him  is  to  the 
effect  that  when  in  common  with  other  boys  and 
girls  he  attended  singing  school,  and  took  part  in 
the  exercises,  the  master  would  point  at  young 
Richardson  and  remark :  "  There  is  discord — 
right  there." 

oughly  reliable,  good  disposition,  good-hearted,  always  ready  to  help 
those  in  trouble,  full  of  life  and  the  devil,  but  nothing  vicious  in  his 
make-up,  he  was  open,  frank  and  always  ready  to  lead  or  follow,  as  the 
crowd  desired.  With  this  character  it  can  be  easily  seen  that  he  investi 
gated  the  ins  and  outs  of  the  land  and  water  around  his  home. 

"  He  was  exceedingly  popular  in  school  among  his  classmates,  and 
was  liked  by  everybody,  great  and  small.  .  .  . 

"  That  even  as  a  boy  he  would  not  be  coerced  is  shown  by  a  little  in 
cident  related  to  me  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Cummings,  better  known  as  '  Uncle 
Brooks,'  that  happened  when  the  Judge  was  ten  or  twelve  years  old. 
Even  in  those  days  the  boys  played  ball,  and  the  principal  game  was 
always  played  on  Fast  day,  in  the  '  old  field.' 

"At  this  time  preparations  had  been  concluded  at  a  singing  school 
one  evening,  when  a  great  lout  of  a '  bully,'  who  worked  in  a  shop  out  of  the 
center  of  the  town,  declared  his  intention  of  taking  a  hand  in  the  game. 
The  boys  not  liking  him  objected,  and  William  told  him  squarely  that 
they  wouldn't  have  him.  This  brought  out  the  '  bully,'  and  he  catching 
William  by  the  throat,  threw  him  across  a  settee,  and  attempted  to  choke 
him  into  acquiescence,  but  no  amount  of  choking  could  change  his  an 
swer,  and  ATo  was  all  he  could  get.  Uncle  Brooks  thought  it  his  duty  to 
interfere  at  this  point,  and  he  says,  '  I  took  the  bully  by  the  top  end  and 
fired  him  down  stairs,  telling  him  if  he  showed  his  face  on  the  ball-field 
I  would  drown  him.'  "—Ibid,. 


19 

At  a  tender  age  he  was  put  at  a  primary  school. 
Before  he  was  eleven  years  old  his  father  sent  him 
away  from  home  to  study  at  Pinkerton  Academy, 
where  his  brother  Daniel  had  been  educated,  in 
the  attractive  town  of  Derry,  in  New  Hampshire, 
not  far  from  the  Massachusetts  line.  The  distance 
from  Tyngsborough  was  some  thirty  miles  or  so, 
which  meant  a  long  way  off,  at  a  period  when 
travel  had  to  be  accomplished  by  stage  or  by 
vehicle.  The  school,  composed  of  about  eighty 
boys,  under  the  charge  of  Abel  F.  Hildreth 
(Harvard,  1818),  an  instructor  of  more  than  ordi 
nary  talent,  appears  to  have  been  in  a  flourishing 
condition.  Dr.  Hildreth  had  earned  for  the 
academy  a  high  reputation  during  his  adminis 
tration  from  1819  to  1846.* 

A  more  wholesome  place  could  hardly  have 
been  selected  than  Derry — a  town  built  up  by 
sturdy  and  independent  families  of  Scotch-Irish 
descent,  whose  children  to  this  day  are  noted  for 
thrift  and  prosperity. 

The  name  of  William  Adams  Richardson  first 


*  "  He  was  a  singularly  successful  teacher,  and  while  he  lived  and  la 
bored  here  he  made  his  institution  second  to  none  other  in  New  England. ' ' 
—Daniel  S.  Richardson,  12  September,  1861,— Semi-Centennial  Anniver 
sary  of  Pinkerton  Academy  (Concord,  1866),  p.  55. 

Judge  Richardson  writing  a  letter  of  regret  from  Boston,  31  August, 
I860,  shows  his  practical  turn  of  mind  by  saying  :  "I  wish  the  trustees 
Avould  follow  the  example  of  other  academies  and  print  a  catalogue  of  all 
the  graduates  of  the  institution,  with  their  present  residences,  etc.  Such 
catalogues  are  very  interesting  and  are  the  best  advertisements  which  can 
be  printed  and  circulated,"  (Ibid.,  p.  106.) 


20 

appears  upon  the  list  of  the  academy  students 
for  the  school  year  1833-1834,  which  began  in 
August;  and  it  is  also  found  recorded  for  the  two 
following  years.  Says  John  C.  Chase,  of  Derry: 

Among  those  who  were  at  the  academy  at  the  same  time 
with  Richardson  who  have  been  heard  from  in  after  life  I  find 
the  names  of  John  M.  Pinkerton,  who  at  his  death,  some  fif 
teen  years  ago,  gave  his  estate,  amounting  to  about  $150,000, 
to  the  institution  that  had  been  founded  and  endowed  by  his 
father  and  uncle ;  Nathaniel  G.  White,  for  many  years  presi 
dent  of  the  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  j  Aaron  F.  Stevens,  of 
Nashua,  a  member  of  Congress ;  Joseph  B.  Walker,  of  Con 
cord  ;  Edwin  F.  French,  brother  of  Henry  F.  French,  late  of 
Washington  ;  Judge  Samuel  F.  Humphrey,  of  Bangor,  Maine. 
There  are  only  two  pupils  of  his  time  now  resident  in  town, 
and  they  have  no  recollection  of  him.  * 

In  the  summer  of  1833,  a  tremendous  stir  was 
created  throughout  New  England  hy  the  visit 
of  Andrew  Jackson,  then  President  of  the  United 
States.  The  chief  magistrate  had  not  the  facil 
ities  for  going  about  the  country  that  are  now  so 
common,  and  Jackson  was  cordially  hated  by  most 
of  his  political  opponents,  whose  sole  idea  of  him 
had  been  derived  from  their  party  newspapers. 
At  all  events,  it  was  for  many  people  a  great  priv 
ilege  to  get  a  sight  of  "  Old  Hickory."  Upon  his 
reaching  Cambridge,  Harvard  College,  it  will  be 
recalled,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  doctor 
of  laws,  the  only  honorary  degree  given  that 
year.  It  so  happened  that  William  Richardson, 

*MS.  letter,  21  July,  1897, 


21 

then  a  boy  of  eleven  years,  was  at  home  from 
school,  probably  upon  a  vacation,  at  the  time  of 
the  coming  of  the  President.  The  following  inci 
dent  is  related  of  General  Jackson's  journey : 

The  course  of  the  presidential  party  toward  Nashua  was 
that  generally  travelled,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Merrimack 
river.  "While  passing  through  Tyngsborough  a  boy  came  out 
upon  an  eminence  which  commanded  a  fair  view  of  the  Pres 
ident  and  his  companions.  He  had  in  his  hand  a  fowling- 
piece,  having  been  out  hunting  that  morning  without  a 
thought,  however,  of  the  possibility  of  coming  upon  the  lion 
which  he  so  suddenly  confronted.  When  the  President's 
barouche  came  opposite,  the  lad  snatched  off  his  cap,  swung  it 
in  the  air,  and  gave  three  as  vigorous  "  hurrahs  "  as  his  small 
voice  would  permit,  at  the  same  time  discharging  his  gun. 
Observing  the  act  of  the  boy,  the  President  removed  his 
hat  and  bowed  with  as  much  formality  as  he  would  have 
done  had  there  been  a  regiment  before  him.  The  boy  who 
was  favored  with  this  consideration  was  the  Honorable 
William  A.  Richardson,  a  native  of  the  town,  late  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.* 

After  William  Richardson  had  attained  to 
man's  estate  few  persons  of  discernment  could 
have  talked  with  him  without  instantly  perceiv 
ing  that  from  boyhood  he  must  have  acquired 
and  exercised  the  habits  of  a  student.  The  pres 
ence  of  this  trait,  however,  is  not  to  be  left  to 
inference.  Among  sundry  papers  labelled  and 
laid  away  by  the  late  chief  justice  for  preser 
vation,  is  one  yellow  with  age,  and  bearing  an 

*  From  a  paper  read  before  the  Old  Residents'  Historical  Society  ot 
Lowell,  in  1875,  by  Mr.  Z,  E.  Stone,  entitled  "The  Visit  of  President 
Jackson  to  Lowell  in  June,  1833."  The  paper  is  printed  in  the  published 
"  Contributions"  of  that  society,  Vol.  II,  p.  132. 


22 

inscription  in  his  handwriting,  "  This  is  the  first 
letter  I  ever  received.  W.  A.  R."  Any  young 
man  might  well  have  prized  it.  The  sheet  ap 
pears  to  have  been  originally  sealed  with  a  wafer. 
It  is  addressed,  "  Master  Wm.  A.  Richardson, 
Derry,  N.  H.,  Pr.  politeness  of  your  father."  The 

letter  reads  thus  : 

TYNGSBORO,  June  4th,  1834- 
Mr.  WILLIAM  A.  RICHARDSON, 

My  resected  young  friend, 

I  am  happy  for  the  present  opportunity  to  write  to  one  with 
whom  I  have  had  so  many  hours  of  pleasure  and  delight. 
Your  good  nature,  high  spirit,  lively  turn,  all  serve  to  raise 
you  above  those  of  your  mates  in  my  estimation.  Always 
ready  to  oblige  you  can  not  but  demand  the  obligation  and 
esteem  of  others.  Always  happy  and  cheerful  you  shed  much 
happiness  and  good  feeling  around  you. 

I  am  happy  to  learn  that  you  continue  to  maintain 
abroad  the  same  cheerfulness  as  at  home.  Prompt  to  obey 
your  teacher,  and  never  caught  in  mischievous  or  low  bred 
company. 

I  am  happy  to  learn  likewise  that  you  are  determined  to 
embrace  the  advice  of  your  parents  and  make  the  best  of  your 
new  superior  advantages.  In  so  doing  you  will  make  yourself 
wise  and  honourable  in  after  life  not  only  on  your  own  account 
but  by  gratifying  the  wishes  and  expectations  of  your  parents. 

I  remain  sir  with  much  esteem,  very  respectfully  yours, 

SAML.  ELLIOT.* 

In  haste 

Please  write  when  you  have  an  opportunity. 

*"  Popularly  known  as  'Deacon  Elliot,'  though  he  had  no  con 
nection  with  the  church.  He  was  the  village  store-keeper,  and  kept  the 
store  in  which  was  the  post-office.  He  was  a  member  of  the  school  com 
mittee,  well  educated  himself,  a  friend  of  education,  always  encouraging 
the  pupils  to  'hitch  their  wagon  to  a  star.'  He  removed  from  hereto 
Elmira,  N.  Y.,  and  died  shortly  after."  MS.  letter  of  J.  Franklin  Bancroft, 
21  August,  1898. 


23 

Master  Richardson  was  then  in  his  thirteenth 
year.  How  fragrant  even  to  this  hour  the  act  of 
writing  and  sending  that  letter.  The  boy  never 
forgot  the  day  that  it  had  been  put  into  his  hand. 
"  This  is  the  first  letter  I  ever  received."  Kind 
and  considerate  friend,  your  text,  after  the  fashion 
of  the  day,  may  be  a  little  stilted,  but  your 
honest  and  well-timed  praise  found  its  way  to  a 
boy's  heart.  Who  can  say  that  it  did  not  mightily 
help  him  to  become  "  wise  and  honourable  in 
after  life."  Truly,  a  word  spoken  in  due  season, 
how  good  is  it. 

Before  the  summer  of  1837  had  closed,  the 
schoolboy  now  advanced  to  his  sixteenth  year, 
was  transferred  to  new  quarters,  in  order  to  com 
plete  the  course  of  study  required  for  admission 
to  Harvard  College.  The  academy  at  Groton, 
Massachusetts,  besides  that  the  town  was  nearer 
home,  held  out  peculiar  advantages,  both  of  an 
educational  and  of  asocial  character;  and  accord 
ingly  young  Richardson  was  entered  there  as  a 
student.  Groton  is  a  delightful  town ;  and  we 
know,  from  his  later  utterances,  that  it  must  have 
been  to  him  a  scene  of  almost  unalloyed  enjoy 
ment.  At  that  date  about  a  hundred  scholars, 
nearly  equally  divided  between  boys  and  girls, 
attended  the  academy.  Mr.  Horace  Herrick,  a 
recent  graduate  from  Dartmouth  College,  was  the 
preceptor,  assisted  by  Miss  Clarissa  Butler. 


24 

The  institution  known  as  "  The  Groton  Acad 
emy,"  a  name  borne  from  its  foundation,  main 
tained  a  deservedly  high  repute  throughout  that 
part  of  the  country.  After  Richardson  had  left 
it,  the  name  was  changed,  in  1846,  to  "  The 
Lawrence  Academy,"  in  recognition  of  the  muni 
ficence  of  the  Lawrences,  of  Boston,  natives  of 
Groton,  who  in  their  gifts  to  this  institution  of 
learning  signalized,  as  they  had  done  in  numer 
ous  other  instances,  the  noble  uses  to  which  wealth 
can  be  applied. 

When  young  Richardson  began  his  studies  at 
Groton,  the  railroad,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  had 
not  yet  come  in  to  change  the  relative  importance 
of  New  England  towns.  Seated  upon  the  direct 
line  of  travel,  the  main  street  of  the  village  pre 
sented  a  busy  scene  of  passing  wagons  and  stage 
coaches,  while  the  taverns  were  centres  of  no  little 
activity  and  bustle.  Indeed  the  life  and  stir  of 
a  Groton  tavern  must  have  wrought  a  deep  im 
pression  upon  the  student  mind,  to  judge  from 
what  may  be  found  in  a  book  of  reminiscences  of 
the  academy,  published  in  1893,  at  the  date  of  its 
hundredth  anniversary. 

Says  Judge  Richardson  : 

The  most  prominent  and  conspicuous  in  the  town  were 
the  stage  drivers  and  tavern  keepers  ;  I  remember  well  Mr. 
Joseph  Hoar,  who  kept  one  of  the  village  inns,  The  Central 
House,  and  who  was  always  with  an  unlighted  stump  of  a 
cigar  in  his  mouth.  I  used  to  wonder  who  smoked  all  the 


25 

cigars  from  which  he  had  so  many  stumps,  for  he  was  never 
seen  with  a  lighted  cigar,  and  I  think  he  never  smoked  nor 
drank. 

Then  there  was  Thomas  0.  Staples,  proprietor  of  the  line 
of  stages  from  Boston  to  Keene,  with  its  famous  Concord 
coaches,  a  man  of  splendid  physique  and  a  distinguished 
driver.  His  wife,  too,  could  handle  the  reins  nearly  as  well 
as  her  husband  and  occasionally  she  drove  the  coach  and  six 
from  Boston  to  Groton,  to  the  admiration  and  astonishment 
of  everybody  who  saw  or  knew  her. 

Judge  Richardson  was  one  of  the  active  pro 
moters  of  a  celebration  by  the  alumni  at  Groton 
in  1854.  He  was  the  leading  spirit  also  in  car 
rying  forward  to  a  successful  result  a  similar 
celebration  of  the  two  anniversaries,  that  of  1883 
and  that  of  1893.  His  heart  ever  warmed  to  the 
scenes  of  his  boyhood,  nor  could  any  one  have 
enjoyed  more  keenly  the  pleasure  of  meeting  old 
classmates ;  while  they  in  like  manner  when  they 
have  occasion  to  write  or  speak  of  him  do  so  in 
very  affectionate  terms. 

One  of  the  pleasing  incidents  of  his  life  at 
Groton  is  described  by  him  as  the  festival  of  the 
crowning  of  the  king  and  queen  of  May  on  the 
first  day  of  May,  1839.  He  writes  of  it  1  May, 
1893,  exactly  fifty-four  years  later:  "After  a 
march  up  the  street  to  the  fields  where  the  wild 
flowers  could  be  gathered,  the  boys  and  girls 
returned.  Then  a  girl  placed  upon  the  head  of  a 
boy  a  wreath  of  flowers,  while  young  Richardson 
placed  on  the  head  of  a  girl  a  similar  wreath." 


26 

The  Judge  mentions  the  pleasing  fact  that  after 
fifty-four  years  had  passed  all  four  were  then  living 
and  in  good  health.  It  may  be  added  here 
that  he  was  in  the  habit  in  later  years  of  sending 
his  family  to  Groton  for  the  summer,  and  of 
going  there  himself  for  such  vacations  as  he 
could  be  persuaded  to  take. 

Richardson  was  admitted  to  the  freshman  class 
of  Harvard  College  in  the  summer  of  1839,  and 
was  graduated  in  1843.  Of  the  sixty-nine  who 
took  degrees,  thirty  were  living  at  the  fiftieth  an 
niversary  of  their  graduation.  Among  the  more 
prominent  members  of  the  class  there  may  be 
mentioned  Charles  A.  Dana,  of  the  New  York  Sun; 
Octavius  B.  Frothingham,  Unitarian  minister  and 
writer;  Arthur  B.  Fuller,  chaplain  of  the  sixteenth 
Massachusetts  regiment,  who  died  at  Fredericks- 
burg,  Virginia,  in  1862;  Thomas  Hill  (a  life-long 
friend  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch)  afterward 
(1861-8)  president  of  Harvard  College;  John  W. 
Kingman,  territorial  governor  of  Wyoming;  John 
Lowell,  United  States  circuit  judge ;  Charles  C. 
Perkins,  widely  known  as  a  writer  upon  art ;  Hor 
ace  Binney  Sargent,  of  Boston;  E.  Carleton 
Sprague,  a  leader  of  the  Buffalo  Bar;  Eben  F. 
Stone,  of  Newburyport,  a  lawyer,  active  at  the 
bar  of  Essex  and  in  the  state  legislature,  later  a 
member  of  Congress  ;  and  Alexander  W.  Thayer, 
musical  author  and  critic. 


27 

Richardson's  chum  throughout  the  four  years' 
course  was  William  Henry  Adams,  of  North 
Chelmsford,  who  was  with  him  at  Groton  acad 
emy.  He  died  in  1845. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Richardson  made  any 
special  mark  in  college.*  He  was  quiet  in  his 
ways,  and  studious,  but  disinclined  to  struggle 
for  honors,  either  of  the  college  or  of  the  class. 
Some  time  after  graduation  his  classmates  elected 
him  class  secretary,  a  post  of  honor  which  he  held 
for  many  years  and  until  his  death.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  add  that  he  performed  the  duties  of 
the  office,  which  called  for  no  inconsiderable  labor 
on  his  part,  with  a  scrupulous  care  and  prompti 
tude.  Upon  the  occasion  of  the  fiftieth  anni 
versary  (1893)  it  was  Chief  Justice  Richardson, 
their  secretary,  whom  the  class  had  selected  to 
speak  for  them  at  the  commencement  dinner. 

His  successor  as  class  secretary  writes : 

I  saw  little  of  him  in  our  college  life.  ...  In  1883,  he 
prepared  and  distributed  a  "  Memorabilia  "  pamphlet  of  the 
class  for  the  meeting  that  year,  and  issued  a  similar  report  of 
the  class  meeting  in  1893. 

The  lines  of  our  lives  have  not  brought  us  in  contact  since 
graduating,  except  casually.  He  was  a  painstaking  and  per 
sistent  laborer  where  interested.  He  certainly  was  ambitious 
to  leave  a  good  record. t 

*One  of  his  classmates,  since  (1898)  deceased,  John  A  Loring,  a 
lawyer  of  Boston,  informed  the  writer  that  Richardson  in  his  freshman 
year  began  to  work  upon  the  reyised  statutes  of  Massachusetts,  and  that 
probably  no  other  living  person  than  Mr.  L.  knew  of  the  fact. 

t  MS.  letter,  14  August,  1897,  of  Thomas  B.  Hall,  secretary  of  the  Class 
of  '43. 


28 

Another  classmate,  who  has  since  died,  said  of 
him : 

I  should  be  pleased  to  give  you  any  facts  in  regard  to 
my  classmate  Richardson  which  might  be  interesting  to  his 
friends,  but  he  was  a  retiring  man  and  had  but  few  intimates, 
and  I  do  not  know  that  I  was  among  the  number,  though  our 
relations  were  perfectly  friendly.  He  went  to  Cambridge  to 
study,  and  he  studied  conscientiously ;  was  what  in  those  days 
was  called  a  "  dig";  always  prepared  with  his  task,  rather  by 
dint  of  hard  work  than  by  facility  of  acquisition.  I  doubt 
if  Sargent,  who  graduated  our  first  scholar,  ever  devoted  the 
time  to  study  that  Richardson  did. 

I  do  not  ever  remember  seeing  him  engaged  in  any  game, 
either  athletic  or  intellectual.  He  wrote  a  small,  crabbed, 
school-boy  hand. 

"  Richardson,"  said  Professor  Johnson,  one  day,  looking 
over  one  of  his  themes  in  the  presence  of  the  class,  "  Richard 
son,  I  don't  think  your  handwriting  is  just  the  thing  for 
elegant  literature."  A  trifling  incident  that  survives  nearly 
fifty-five  years,  while  so  many  things  that  are  worth  remem 
bering,  have  escaped  and  are  forgotten.* 

This  well-meant  criticism  from  the  professor 
may  not  have  been  without  its  effect,  for  in  later 
years  his  handwriting  could  not  be  said  to  have 
given  cause  for  complaint.  Indeed  it  had  become 
a  good,  legible  hand,  plain  but  strong,  well  suited 
to  the  purposes  of  one  who  worked  in  a  study 
and  wrote  much  for  the  printer. 

Although  Mr.  Richardson  may  not  have  been 
conspicuous  among  his  classmates,  or  taken  high 
rank  as  a  scholar,  it  is  evident  that  he  had  im 
bibed  at  Cambridge  a  deep  and  abiding  affection 

*  MS.  letter  of  John  J.  Russell,  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  20  July,  1897. 


29 

for  Harvard  College.  His  life  as  an  undergrad 
uate  was  we  may  be  sure  a  pleasant  one,  seeing  as 
we  do  so  many  tokens  that  his  college  associations 
were  in  after  life  dear  to  him.  He  was  loyal  to 
the  best  traditions  of  Harvard.  For  twelve  years 
(1863-1875)  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  board 
of  overseers,  elected  for  the  first  term  of  six  years 
by  the  legislature,  and  for  the  second  term  by  the 
alumni. 

At  this  post  his  labors  were  constant,  and  at  all 
times  well  directed.  Upon  removal  to  Wash 
ington,  he  remitted  nothing  of  his  vigilance  in 
watching  every  change  proposed  at  Harvard,  of 
which  it  is  to  be  said  that  more  than  one  perhaps 
owed  its  first  impulse  to  some  suggestion  from 
him.  By  means  of  active  correspondence  he 
sought  to  help  forward  plans  for  broadening  and 
strengthening  the  institution  in  various  direc 
tions.  Few  friends  of  the  university  whether  of 
its  official  family,  or  outside,  had  bestowed  more 
elaborate  thought  upon  the  legal  relations  of  the 
college,  its  charter  and  its  property  rights,  as  well 
as  upon  various  questions  which  arose  from  time 
to  time  in  respect  to  the  need  of  organic  changes 
in  the  administration  of  its  affairs. 

Subjects  of  historic  interest,  pertaining  to  the 
college,  or  her  graduates,  also  occupied  largely 
Mr.  Richardson's  attention.  He  prepared  and 
published  a  list  of  the  alumni  who  had  held  high 


30 

public  position,  state  or  federal, — data  of  percep 
tible  value,  as  attested  by  similar  lists  from 
other  universities,  the  work  of  compilers  who 
followed  his  footsteps.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest 
promoters  of  the  plan  of  taking  the  election  of 
overseers  out  of  the  control  of  the  legislature, 
and  entrusting  it  to  the  hands  of  the  alumni. 
Nor  did  matters  of  minor  concern  escape  his  eye, 
wherever  an  actual  improvement  could  reason 
ably  be  counted  upon.  He  appears  to  have  been 
the  first  graduate  to  advocate  earnestly  the  print 
ing  of  the  Quinquennial  in  English,  and  he  lived 
to  see  the  change  effected. 

Immediately  upon  being  graduated,  Richard 
son  began  a  course  of  reading  at  the  law  office 
of  his  brother  Daniel,  at  Lowell.  For  a  while 
also  he  studied  in  the  offices,  at  Boston,  of  Fuller 
and  Andrew,  the  junior  partner  being  John  A. 
Andrew,  afterwards  the  famous  war  governor  of 
Massachusetts.  After  4  March,  1845,  he  entered 
the  Harvard  law  school,  whose  professors  were 
Joseph  Story  (who  died  in  September  following), 
and  Simon  Greenleaf.  Here  he  remained  for 
eighteen  months,  taking  the  degree  of  bachelor  of 
laws  at  the  end  of  that  period,  according  to  the 
easy  requirements  then  in  force.  Upon  motion 
of  Mr.  Andrew,  who  was  six  years  his  senior  in 
the  profession,  Mr.  Richardson  was  admitted  to 
the  Suffolk  bar  8  July,  1846.  On  the  next  day, 


31 

at  Lowell,  his  partnership  with  his  brother, 
Daniel  S.  Richardson  (Harvard,  1836),  was  an 
nounced,  and  he  was  to  be  found  at  his  desk, 
ready  to  serve  a  client.  The  alliance  was  in  the 
nature  of  a  fortunate  opening  for  the  younger 
member  of  the  firm,  since  his  brother,  a  lawyer 
of  fine  abilities  and  a  man  of  lovable  character, 
had  not  only  established  himself  in  a  lucrative 
and  growing  practice,  but  had  come  to  be  ex 
tremely  popular  with  the  bar. 

Well  educated,  eager  for  work,  modest,  and 
with  slight  taste  for  public  speaking, — certainly 
with  no  inclination  for  facing  a  jury, — one  may 
conceive  what  kind  of  practice  fell  to  the  junior 
member  of  the  firm.  What  with  making  collec 
tions,  drawing  leases  and  deeds,  looking  up  titles, 
attending  to  the  probate  of  wills  and  the  admin 
istration  of  estates,  young  Richardson,  pains 
taking  and  methodical  to  the  utmost,  had  no 
reason  to  complain  of  his  prospects. 

After  three  years  of  practice,  the  future  chief 
justice,  it  appears,  felt  equal  to  supporting  a  wife. 
He  was  married  29  October,  1849,  to  Anna  Maria 
Marston,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Sarah  (Holt) 
Marston,  of  Machiasport,  Maine.*  The  union 

*  Their  only  child,  Isabella  Anna,  was  bom  in  Lowell  on  21st  Decem 
ber,  1850;  died  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  4  April,  1898.  She  was  married 
23  November,  1876,  to  Alexander  F.  Magruder,  passed  assistant  surgeon 
United  States  navy,  son  of  the  late  Dr.  Magruder,  of  Georgetown,  D.  C., 
and  a  descendant,  on  his  mother's  side,  of  the  Fitzhugh  family,  of  Vir  - 
ginia.  They  had  three  children  :  William  Richardson  Magruder,  born  in 


32 

proved  to  be  most  happy  in  every  respect.  Mrs. 
Richardson  possessed  qualities  of  both  person 
and  mind  that  fitted  her  to  be,  in  the  best  sense 
of  the  word,  a  helpmate.  Whether  in  their  quiet 
home  life  at  Lowell,  or  at  a  later  period  when 
called  upon  to  meet  social  obligations  at  Washing 
ton,  as  the  wife  of  a  member  of  the  cabinet,  or  of  the 
chief  justice  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  she  was  always 
equal  to  her  duties.  Handsome  and  accom 
plished,  Mrs.  Richardson's  cordial  manner  of  wel 
coming  the  visitor,  together  with  her  animated 
and  genuine  interest  in  the  welfare  of  those 
around  her,  won  for  her  a  large  circle  of  friends, 
and  redounded  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  her 
husband. 

The  conduct  of  a  man  thus  occupied  with  his 
own  affairs  is  watched,  and,  if  he  is  seen  to  be 
diligent  and  faithful,  he  is  wanted  before  long  for 
this  or  that  minor  public  position.  In  1849,  Mr. 
Richardson  was  elected  to  the  common  council  of 
the  city  of  Lowell.  Again  elected  in  1853  and 
1854,  he  was  made  president  of  the  board.  The 
circumstance  is  interesting,  and  perhaps  is  without 
a  parallel  in  our  municipal  history,  that  three 

Washington,  D.  C.,  20  December,  1878;  died  in  Groton,  Massachusetts, 
1883 ;  Alexander  Richardson  Magruder,  born  in  Nice,  France,  while  his 
father  was  stationed  there  on  duty,  17  January,  1883  ;  Isabella  Richardson 
Magruder,  born  in  Washington,  I).  C.,  20  April,  1886. 

Dr.  Magrudcr  was  retired  as  full  surgeon.  He  went  upon  the  active 
list,  however,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Spanish  war,  and  served  at  the 
marine  headquarters,  Washington. 


33 

brothers  [Daniel  S.,  William  A.,  and  George  F.] 
should  each  in  turn  have  held  this  honorable 
position.  Meanwhile,  he  had  been  made  (1846- 
1850)  judge  advocate  of  a  division  of  the  militia 
with  the  rank  of  major ;  while  Governor  Briggs 
later  appointed  him  an  aide-de-camp  with  the 
rank  of  lieutenant  colonel,  a  gold-laced  position 
which  brings  a  young  man  into  wider  notice. 
The  trustees  of  the  Lowell  Five  Cent  Savings 
Bank  elected  him  one  of  their  number;  and  he 
served  for  several  years  on  the  finance  committee 
of  that  institution. 

He  had  been  early  chosen  a  director  of  the 
Appleton  Bank.  Subsequently,  he  resigned  that 
position  in  order  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the 
Wamesit  Bank,  afterwards  the  Wamesit  National 
Bank,  which  office  he  held  until  1867,  when  he 
returned  to  the  Appleton,  that  had  meanwhile 
become  the  Appleton  National  Bank.  With  this 
institution  he  continued  as  director  until  his 
appointment  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  when 
he  resigned  the  office  and  sold  out  his  stock.  His 
experience  in  the  management  of  these  banks,  and 
of  the  savings  bank  previously  named,  developed 
a  sagacity  and  acuteness  that  served  him  in  good 
stead  when  called  upon  subsequently  to  deal  with 
the  vast  business  of  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States. 

At  a  somewhat   later  period  he  was   chosen 


34 

president  of  the  Middlesex  Mechanic's  Associ 
ation,  an  honor  in  itself  the  more  to  be  valued 
because  it  gave  him  opportunity  to  assist  in  the 
reorganization  of  that  important  body.  This 
office  he  rilled  for  two  years. 

In  May,  1855,  Mr.  Richardson  it  seems  made 
his  first  venture  as  an  author,  or  let  us  rather 
say,  compiler.  With  the  sanction,  and  perhaps 
at  the  instance  of  the  bank  commissioners  of  the 
state,  he  prepared  and  published  a  handy  volume 
upon  the  banking  laws  of  Massachusetts,  being  a 
compilation  of  the  statutes  relating  to  banks  and 
savings  institutions,  with  notes  of  decisions,  etc. 
The  modest  little  book,  which  doubtless  served  a 
useful  purpose  in  its  day  and  is  now  chiefly  note 
worthy  as  a  model  of  arrangement  and  indexing, 
was  published  at  Lowell  and  Boston. 

Employments  such  as  these  had  no  effect  to 
divert  him  from  a  punctual  and  devoted  attention 
to  the  wants  of  his  clients.  Whatever  else  Judge 
Richardson  may  have  been,  he  always  remained 
the  lawyer,  with  a  liking  for  the  application  of 
legal  principles  to  the  daily  concerns  of  life.  The 
prospect  of  litigation  did  not  attract  him  ;  where 
he  found  pleasure  was  in  facilitating  the  prompt 
and  safe  transaction  of  the  every-day  business 
affairs  of  those  who  sought  his  professional  aid. 
Here  he  was  getting  an  admirable  training  when 
a  summons  to  engage  in  work  of  larger  scope 


35 

came  to  him  most  unexpectedly,  though  it  found 
him,  we  may  believe,  prepared  fairly  well  for 
the  task. 

The  tendency  of  state  legislatures  to  make 
changes  at  every  session  in  the  statutes,  whether 
by  way  of  repeal  or  amendment,  or  by  bringing 
forward  entirely  new  provisions  of  law,  has  be 
come  proverbial ;  and  Massachusetts,  it  must  be 
confessed,  at  no  period  of  her  political  history 
furnishes  an  exception  to  the  rule.  By  this  time 
the  statute  law  of  the  commonwealth  had  grown 
into  an  unwieldy  mass,  so  that  particular  provis 
ions  were  difficult  of  ascertainment,  and  when 
found,  were  fruitful  of  perplexities.  The  only 
remedy  was  revision.  Already  the  governor  had 
appointed  commissioners  to  determine  upon  a  plan 
in  accordance  with  which  the  revision  might  best 
be  accomplished.  Upon  a  report  from  them  the 
legislature,  16  February,  1855,  passed  a  resolution 
empowering  the  governor  to  appoint  three  com 
missioners  to  consolidate  and  rearrange  the  stat 
utes,  with  authority  to — 

Omit  redundant  enactments  and  those  which  may  have 
ceased  to  have  effect  or  influence  on  existing  rights  ;  to  reject 
superfluous  words,  and  to  condense  into  as  concise  and  compre 
hensive  a  form,  as  is  consistent  with  a  full  and  clear  expression 
of  the  legislature,  all  circuitous,  tautological  and  ambiguous 
phraseology ;  to  suggest  any  mistakes,  omissions,  inconsist 
encies  and  imperfections  which  may  appear  in  the  laws  to  be 
consolidated  and  arranged,  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
may  be  corrected,  supplied  and  amended. 


36 

These  terms  indicate  to  what  lengths  the  re 
sponsibility  extended  and  how  broad  a  discretion 
was  to  be  reposed  in  the  commission.  Governor 
Gardner,  on  the  9th  of  March  following,  named 
for  the  office  Joel  Parker,  of  Cambridge,  Royal 
professor  of  law  at  Harvard  and  formerly  chief 
justice  of  New  Hampshire  ;  William  A.  Richard 
son,  of  Lowell;  and  Andrew  A.  Richmond,  of 
Adams.* 

The  appointees  accepted  the  office  and  entered 
at  once  upon  the  work,  although  Mr.  Richmond's 
health  prevented  his  taking  an  active  part  therein. 
A  disproportionate  share  consequently  fell  upon 
Mr.  Richardson.  But  the  junior  commissioner 
felt  no  discouragement  at  what  confronted  him  ; 
on  the  contrary  the  work  laid  out  was  exactly  to 
his  taste ;  and  he  bent  himself  with  unflagging 
energy  to  go  through  the  body  of  the  statutes  so 

*  As  illustrating  the  truth  that  chance  sometimes  has  much  to  do  with 
a  young  man's  opportunity  for  advancement,  the  following  remarks  once 
made  by  the  chief  justice  as  to  how  he  happened  to  be  appointed  to  this 
important  office,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  may  not  inappropriately  rind 
room  here :  "I  do  not.  think  that  the  governor  (Henry  J.  Gardner)  had 
ever  heard  of  me,  until  some  one,  a  senator,  suggested  my  name  as  a 
candidate.  I  came  very  near  not  getting  that  appointment.  When  the 
senator  first  mentioned  my  name  the  governor  said  he  had  just  settled 
upon  the  list  of  names,  and  it  was  too  late  to  make  a  change  in  it.  There 
were  three  commissioners.  A  few  days  afterwards  the  governor  sent  for 
the  senator,  and  asked  more  about  me,  saying  that  after  all  he  might  make 
a  change  in  the  list ;  and  he  did  so,  and  I  was  named  as  one.  When  the 
appointments  came  out  afterward,  I  learned  in  course  of  time  that  be 
tween  the  first  and  second  interview  with  the  senator,  the  governor  had 
some  trouble  with  one  of  the  three  he  had  selected,  a  man  from  Newton, 
a  warm  personal  friend  up  to  that  time,  and  on  that  account  had  struck 
bis  name  off  the  list  and  substituted  mine." 


37 

as  to  have  a  report  ready  by  the  autumn  of  1858. 
Of  course,  such  an  undertaking  was  to  the  last 
degree  laborious.  Indeed,  considering  how  much 
there  was  for  a  single  man  to  do,  it  must  always 
remain  a  marvel  that  the  volume,  which  ulti 
mately  grew  out  of  the  work  of  the  commission, 
proved  so  admirable  in  plan,  and  so  faultless  in 
execution.  The  volume  referred  to  is  the  General 
Statutes  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts 
of  1860,  embodied  in  an  act  passed  28  December, 
1859. 

The  duty  of  editing  and  superintending  the 
printing  of  the  statutes,  forming  as  they  do  a 
book  of  upwards  of  eleven  hundred  pages,  was 
entrusted  to  William  A.  Richardson  and  George 
P.  Sanger.  Circumstances  obliged  them  to  send 
the  sheets  to  the  printer  under  a  pressure  of  some 
haste,  but  the  completed  volume  shows  no  sign  of 
it.  They  prefixed  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  that  of  Massachusetts,  furnished  chapter 
headings  in  detail,  and  supplied  to  the  text,  both 
of  the  constitutions  and  of  the  statutes,  copious 
notes,  citations  and  cross-references.  To  this  they 
added  a  glossary  and  an  index,  the  latter  having 
the  merit  of  accuracy  and  fulness. 

While  praise  is  unquestionably  due  to  Judge 
Sanger  for  his  share  of  the  undertaking,  no  one 
who  knows  the  requirements  of  such  a  task,  and 
who  besides  has  seen  what  Judge  Richardson 


at  a  later  period  accomplished  in  his  revision 
of  the  statutes  of  the  United  States,  will  be  at 
a  loss  to  determine  what  proportion  of  the  de 
sign  is  to  be  credited  to  him.  Unlike  previous 
revisions,  many  of  which  went  little  further  than 
to  rearrange  the  several  enactments,  the  report 
made  by  Messrs.  Parker  and  Richardson  amounted 
to  a  re-writing  of  nearly  the  whole  body  of  the 
statute  law.*  In  several  instances  they  changed 
the  language  of  the  statutes,  especially  under  the 
head  of  criminal  law.  Notwithstanding  some 
opposition  in  the  legislature,  every  one  of  these 
changes  was  approved,  and  most  of  them  after 
wards  justified  themselves  as  being  of  practical 
value. 

It  was  a  subject  of  pride  with  Chief  Justice 
Richardson  that  in  his  younger  days  the  honor 
should  have  been  his  of  taking  part  in  this 
severe  and  protracted  labor  of  revision;  and 
that  the  volume  in  the  preparation  of  which  he 
applied  himself  with  so  much  ardor,  had  stood 
the  test  of  time  and  proved  to  be  substantially,  if 
not  literally,  free  from  error. 


*  One  day  during  the  early  sessions  of  the  board,  Judge  Parker,  the 
chairman,  handed  to  Mr.  Richardson  a  chapter  drawn  up  informally  and 
told  him  to  take  it  up  and  see  what  he  could  do  with  it.  This  was  said 
at  the  State  House  in  Boston.  Mr.  Richardson  took  the  manuscript  that 
night  to  Lowell,  twenty-five  miles  away,  and  sat  up  all  night  working 
upon  it.  The  next  morning  he  brought  it  back  to  Boston  compressed  into 
about  three  pages.  It  was  adopted  and  printed  as  he  had  written  it,  and 
ever  since  has  formed  a  chapter  in  the  statutes  as  revised. 


39 

Some  one  has  well  said  of  it :  "  The  amount  of 
labor,  patient  study  and  legal  skill  required  in 
mastering  so  much  complication,  and  bringing 
the  mass  into  harmonious  order,  may  be  imagined 
by  all ;  but  its  successful  accomplishment  can  only 
be  appreciated  by  an  experienced  legal  mind." 

Judge  Richardson  continued  to  edit  and  super 
intend  the  issue  of  an  annual  volume  of  the  Mas 
sachusetts  statutes  for  a  period  of  twenty-two  years. 
The  stereotype  plates  of  the  General  Statutes  of 
1860  were  destroyed  by  the  great  fire  at  Boston 
in  1872.  Pursuant  to  an  act  of  the  legislature  he 
edited,  in  conjunction  with  Judge  Sanger,  a  new 
edition  in  1873,  as  well  as  a  supplementary  vol 
ume  of  legislative  enactments  since  1860.  This 
last-named  labor  was  accomplished,  it  should  be 
stated,  at  a  time  when  the  editor-in-chief  was  at 
Washington,  immersed  in  the  business  of  the 
Treasury  Department. 

Later  achievements  in  the  line  of  statutory 
revision  may  conveniently  be  noted  here.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  there  can  be  named  a  lawyer  in 
successful  practice,  or  a  judge  upon  the  bench 
who  has  ever  exhibited  a  willingness,  nay,  let 
it  rather  be  termed  a  desire,  comparable  to  that 
of  Chief  Justice  Richardson,  to  undergo  the 
drudgery  of  bringing  into  orderly  and  systematic 
arrangement  the  vast  material  of  the  statute  law. 
To  begin  with,  it  is  a  species  of  unmitigated 


40 

toil  that  only  a  select  few  would  think  of  under 
taking.  Without  reckoning  a  conception  of  the 
plan  as  a  whole,  the  almost  endless  detail  which 
is  of  necessity  involved,  exacts  of  one  an  amount 
of  manual  labor  that  would  deter  most  men  from 
thinking  of  taking  upon  themselves  this  burden, 
even  with  competent  assistance. 

An  ability  to  carry  along  in  the  memory  the 
meaning,  not  to  say  the  precise  wording,  of  an 
enactment,  with  a  view  of  fitting  to  it  a  note  or 
reference,  or  the  disconnected  terms  of  some  other 
statute,  is  a  gift  rarely  possessed.  But  Chief  Justice 
Richardson  had  this  gift;  and,  what  is  more,  he 
had  an  unerring  perception  of  where  a  line  of 
text  belonged.  Pie  was  endowed,  too,  with  an 
instinct,  one  is  almost  tempted  to  call  it  genius, 
for  indexing.  Besides,  he  has  more  than  once 
displayed  a  rare  judgment  in  the  difficult  art  of 
book-making.  He  knew  exactly  how  to  arrange 
printed  material  in  dress  and  collocation  so  as 
to  wear  the  most  attractive  look  of  which  it  is 
capable ;  while  the  system  of  catch-lines  and  mar 
ginal  annotations  that  he  employed,  and  to  a  large 
extent  originated,  is  such  that  he  who  has  fre 
quent  occasion  to  use  the  volume,  almost  conceives 
a  friendly  feeling  for  the  author. 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  revised  statutes  of 
the  United  States  (1874)  it  became  a  daily  habit 
with  Judge  Richardson  to  watch  the  legislation  of 


41 

Congress  while  in  session,  and  to  enter  references 
thereto  upon  his  note-book.  This  work  he  kept 
up  for  the  rest  of  his  life  because  he  liked  it.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that  probably  no  one  in  the  United 
States  at  any  day  during  this  period  had  in  hand 
such  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  exact  condition 
of  the  federal  statute  law  as  Judge  Richardson. 
With  the  progress  of  time  these  annotations  grew  to 
be  of  large  volume,  and  correspondingly  valuable. 
The  collection  was  unique.  Nobody  else  appa 
rently  had  thought  to  do  the  like.  Congress,  when 
made  aware  of  its  existence,  took  steps  to  provide 
for  its  official  publication.  Acts  were  passed 
directing  that  the  statutes  of  the  United  States 
should  be  printed  with  the  annotations  of  Judge 
Richardson,  and  under  his  direction,  and  that  the 
work  should  be  stereotyped. 

Owing  to  his  forethought  and  his  persistent 
labor,  day  after  day,  the  bar  is  now  enabled  to  con 
sult  in  a  very  convenient  form,  supplements  of 
the  revised  statutes  of  the  United  States  from  1874 
to  1895.  Moreover,  this  admirable  plan  of  publi 
cation  once  adopted  has  now7  apparently  become 
the  settled  policy  of  Congress.  The  work,  it  is 
true,  meets  the  eye  of  but  a  limited  number 
of  people.  The  world  at  large  knows  and  cares 
little  about  it ;  still,  lawyers,  judges,  legislators 
and  public  officials  turn  to  these  volumes  witli 
more  or  less  frequency ;  and,  it  may  truthfully 


42 

be  added,  always  with  satisfaction.  It  is  difficult 
to  see  in  what  particular  the  plan,  as  devised 
by  Chief  Justice  Richardson,  can  be  improved 
upon.  Although  the  work  is  destined  in  time  to 
be  supplanted,  a  new  compilation  must  perforce 
follow  the  lines  of  the  old.  For  this  reason 
" Richardson's  Supplements"  are  likely  to  remain 
a  monument  to  the  honor  of  him  who  con 
ceived  a  well-nigh  faultless  plan  of  bringing  to 
the  public  a  knowledge  of  the  provisions  of  the 
federal  statutes. 

In  the  spring  of  1856  Judge  Samuel  Phillips 
Prescott  Fay  (Harvard,  1793)  resigned  the  office 
of  judge  of  probate  for  Middlesex  county ;  an 
office  which  he  had  held  since  1821,  for  a  period 
of  nearly  thirty-five  years.  Governor  Gardner 
appointed  Mr.  Richardson,  7  April,  1856,  to  fill 
the  vacancy.  The  choice  met  the  general  consent 
and  approval  of  the  bar.  The  new  incumbent, 
already  favorably  known  to  the  governor  by  his 
labors  upon  the  commission  to  revise  the  statutes, 
had  demonstrated  satisfactorily  to  the  people  of 
Lowell  and  the  county  in  general  that  he  was  pecu 
liarly  well  suited  to  the  position.  The  change 
from  office  practice  to  a  seat  upon  the  bench  was, 
we  may  believe,  very  acceptable  to  the  incoming 
judge.  He  was  glad  to  be  thus  honored  in  his 
own  county,  and  he  welcomed  the  multiplied  and 
arduous  duties  that  awaited  him. 


43 

A  judge  of  probate,  it  need  hardly  be  explained, 
ought  to  know  a  good  deal  more  than  the  rules 
of  law  governing  the  administration  of  estates. 
He  not  only  sits  to  act  upon  petitions  and  decide 
controversies,  but  people  resort  to  him  daily,  "the 
widow  and  the  orphan,"  for  advice  and  counsel.  A 
selfish  man,  or  one  of  stern  demeanor,  would  not 
be  tolerated  there ;  an  impulsive,  tender-hearted 
judge,  lacking  in  firmness,  would  be  equally  out 
of  place.  Happily  Judge  Richardson  possessed 
just  the  qualities  needed  for  a  successful  admin 
istration  of  the  office.* 

*  Governor  Frederick  T.  Greenhalge,  who,  before  entering  into  public 
life  had  reached  distinction  as  a  lawyer  at  Lowell,  said  at  a  memorial 
meeting  of  the  bar  upon  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  George  M.  Brooks  : 
"  Judge  Brooks  succeeded  a  most  remarkable  man,  singularly  adapted  to 
the  work  of  the  probate  court— Judge  William  A.  Richardson— and  yet 
no  one  ever  fulfilled  with  more  success,  with  more  conscious  exactness  to 
law,  fact,  sympathy  and  efficacy  of  action,  the  work  assigned  him  than 
Judge  Brooks." 

Says  A.  V.  Lynde  (November,  1897)  a  prominent  practitioner  and  one 
of  the  oldest  lawyers  at  the  Middlesex  bar:  "Richardson  was  the  best 
judge  of  probate  they  ever  had  in  Massachusetts.  His  power  of  despatch 
ing  business  was  tremendous.  There  was  a  case  in  which  George  P.  Burn- 
ham  (who  had  gained  local  notoriety  during  the  '  Shanghai  chicken  ' 
craze),  was  a  party.  The  question  was  whether  a  sum  of  $10,000  should  be 
allowed  in  a  probate  account.  On  one  side  was  Butler,  Rockwood  Hoar, 
Brooks  and  other  strong  counsel.  I  had  as  an  associate  Theodore  H. 
Sweetser.  We  had  more  than  forty  hearings  before  Judge  Richardson,  he 
not  intimating  in  the  least  what  his  opinion  would  be.  At  the  last  hear 
ing,  upon  the  close  of  the  argument,  Richardson  said,  '  I  shall  not  allow 
this  claim,'  adjourned  court,  and  took  his  hat  and  left  the  court  hoxise. " 

Mr.  Lynde  spoke  of  talking  one  day  with  Judge  Richardson  about  his 
method  of  disposing  of  cases  rapidly.  The  judge  said  he  preferred  in  pro 
bate  hearings  to  give  an  immediate  opinion.  "Are  you  not  sometimes 
wrong?"  asked  Mr.  Lynde.  "Oh,  yes,"  replied  the  judge,  "I  suppose 
that  sometimes  I  decide  wrong,  but  in  the  majority  of  cases,  I  think  my 
first  impressions  are  right ;  and  then  it  is  best  to  get  through  them 
quickly,  or  cases  would  consume  too  much  time  in  argument." 


44 

The  judge  was  a  critical  observer  of  the  means 
employed  in  the  administration  of  judicial  affairs. 
He  studied  practice  closely.  He  believed  in  ex 
tending,  where  it  could  safely  be  done,  the  field 
into  which  his  court  should  enter.  He  was  not 
a  man  content  to  settle  down  into  old-fashioned 
ways  of  doing  business,  when  after  careful  inspec 
tion  he  had  once  satisfied  himself  that  a  method 
could  be  improved.  Accordingly  his  busy  inge 
nuity  conceived  a  plan  of  enlarging  the  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  probate  court ;  and  he  was  largely 
instrumental  in  securing  action  by  the  legislature 
conferring  upon  that  tribunal  concurrent  juris 
diction  with  that  of  the  supreme  court,  in  the 
construction  of  wills  and  the  administration  of 
estates.  To  his  wisely  directed  influence  it  is 
due  that  the  probate  court  in  Massachusetts  has 
acquired  an  exclusive  original  jurisdiction  over 
many  subjects  that  formerly  it  did  not  enjoy. 

It  was  left  also  to  Judge  Richardson  to  propose 
to  his  fellow  judges  of  probate  a  scheme  of  uni 
formity  in  the  matter  of  practice.  He  had  seen 
that  each  one  of  the  fourteen  counties  had  its 
own  forms,  which  had  been  followed  since  the 
days  of  the  Revolution.  The  blanks  in  use 
varied  with  each  court,  and  there  was  an  absence 
of  uniformity  in  almost  every  particular.  Each 
judge  was  naturally  inclined  to  treat  the  settled 
forms  of  his  own  court  as  the  best  to  be  devised ; 


45 

and  the  young  Middlesex  official  who  urged  the 
benefits  of  regularity  and  uniformity  had  to  en 
counter  a  weighty  opposition.  Many  of  the  older 
practitioners  likewise  were  conservative,and  viewed 
any  proposed  modification  with  scant  favor. 

But  the  earnestness  and  persistency  of  the 
advocate  for  reform  prevailed;  the  judges  met, 
and  upon  his  motion  named  a  committee  to  re 
vise  the  probate  blanks  and  make  them  uniform 
throughout  the  state.  They  selected  Richardson, 
of  course,  together  with  Judges  John  Wells  and 
Samuel  F.  Lyman,  both  of  them  new  to  the  bench, 
though  the  latter  had  been  a  register  of  probate 
for  many  years.  Having  started  the  project, 
Judge  Richardson,  as  generally  happens  in  such 
cases,  was  allowed  by  his  associates  to  go  ahead 
and  do  all  the  work, — which  he  did,  and  what 
is  more,  did  it  gratuitously.  We  may  gather 
from  the  following  memorandum  of  the  judge 
himself  what  must  have  been  the  nature  of  the 
undertaking, — a  task  much  more  onerous,  it 
will  be  observed,  than  perhaps  would  at  first 
have  been  suspected  : 

Two  judges,  both  older  than  myself,  were  put  on  the  com 
mittee  and  I,  who  alone  had  experience  in  the  probate  court, 
was  added.  My  associates  were  both  from  the  western  part  of 
the  state,  and  we  were  all  three  far  separate,  so  that  we  could 
not  meet  for  consultation. 

I  made  an  arrangement  with  the  state  printer  in  Boston  to 
print  the  blanks,  in  expectation  that  the  counties  would  take 
their  respective  shares,  for  we  had  no  money  at  our  disposal 


46 

for  the  expenses.  Of  course,  the  whole  labor  fell  upon  me, 
who  alone  had  an  office  in  Boston,  and  was  familiar  with  the 
practice  of  the  probate  courts,  and  had  started  the  scheme 
myself.  I  had  already  formed  my  opinions  as  to  the  blanks 
generally.  Up  to  that  time  each  of  the  fourteen  counties  had 
its  own  system  and  its  own  blanks,  and  they  had  been  diverg 
ing  from  each  other  for  two  hundred  years  or  so.  Of  course, 
there  was  very  little  similarity, — none  except  such  as  the 
statutes  required  or  suggested. 

The  very  first  set  of  blanks  that  I  had  printed  and  sent  to 
each  of  the  judges,  raised  opposition  from  two  counties  ;  all  the 
others  were  quite  satisfied.  One  of  my  associates  resigned  from 
the  committee,  saying  that  he  could  not  agree  to  such  radical 
changes  of  forms  which  were  older  than  the  constitution  of  the 
state.  The  other  associate  made  no  objection,  and  I  rarely 
saw  him.  Once  in  a  great  while,  when  in  Boston  from  one  of 
the  extreme  western  counties,  he  came  into  my  office,  but  he 
had  no  opportunity  to  do  anything,  and  being  a  new  man 
without  experience  in  court,  he  had  no  suggestions  to  make. 

I  \vorked  over  these  blanks  for  more  than  a  year.  When 
completed  I  took  them  to  Chief  Justice  Bigelow  of  the  supreme 
court,  who  wras  a  friend  of  mine,  for  adoption  by  that  court,  in 
accordance  with  a  provision  of  the  statutes  which  had  been  in 
force  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  without  any  action  taken. 
Bigelow  adopted,  or  rather  approved  them  at  once,  and  for  the 
court  ordered  them  [11  April,  1861]  to  be  adopted  in  all  the 
counties.  One  county,  Essex,  still  manifested  hostility  and 
came  into  the  plan  with  great  reluctance.  Bigelow,  who  was 
constantly  inquiring,  whenever  we  met,  as  to  how  I  was  getting 
on,  told  me  that  if  the  judge  in  Essex  did  not  adopt  the  forms, 
he  would  issue  a  mandamus  to  show  cause,  and  would  compel 
him  to  adopt  them.  But  I  did  not  want  to  press  matters,  and 
they  finally  got  into  use  even  there. 

Some  years  afterwards  (nearly  twenty  years),  the  supreme 
court  held  that  the  forms  as  thus  adopted  were  part  of  the  law 
of  the  state,  and  could  not  be  changed  but  by  that  court,  as 
they  were  so  ordered  to  be  adopted.  (Baxter  v.  Blood,  128 
Mass.  543.) 


47 

The  principal  advantages  gained  were  and  are,  absolute 
uniformity  of  forms  in  the  whole  fourteen  counties.  In  the 
blanks  themselves  some  matters  may  be  mentioned  as  among 
the  most  important  changes :  Stating  the  exact  date  of 
the  death  of  the  decedents.  Before,  no  date  was  given. 
Naming  all  the  heirs  and  next  of  kin,  with  the  place  of  resi 
dence,  and  the  husbands  of  married  women.  In  these  partic 
ulars  the  probate  records  of  Massachusetts  will  in  time  prove 
a  mine  for  exploration  by  the  genealogists. 

The  judge  had  occupied  the  office  scarcely 
two  years  when  the  legislature  effected  a  radical 
change  in  the  system  of  the  probate  courts  by 
consolidating  them  with  the  courts  of  insolvency, 
and  creating  a  court  of  probate  and  insolvency,  of 
which  Judge  Richardson  was  made  a  judge  for 
Middlesex.  The  real  object  in  view  was  to  bring 
about,  by  act  of  the  legislature,  the  removal  of 
Edward  Greely  Loring  (Harvard,  1831),  judge  of 
probate  for  Suffolk  county,  a  man  of  ability  and  of 
the  highest  integrity.  As  a  matter  of  fact  Judge 
Loring  was  removed  from  office  by  Governor 
Banks,  19  March,  1858,  upon  a  supersedeas,  in 
compliance  with  the  address  of  the  legislature.* 

*  Loring  was,  however,  not  long  deprived  of  judicial  honors.  A  va 
cancy  having  recently  occurred  on  the  bench  of  the  Court  of  Claims  at 
Washington,  through  the  death  of  Chief  Justice  Gilchrist,  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  the  President  named  Loring  to  be  a  judge  of  that  court,  and  he  was 
confirmed  6  May,  1858.  In  this  capacity  he  served  the  country  honorably 
and  well.  He  relinquished  his  seat,  after  having  passed  the  age  limit, 
in  1877.  Alike  on  the  bench  or  in  retirement,  the  judge  Avas  a  man  of 
charming  personality,  a  raconteur  of  the  very  highest  order.  He,  with 
his  wife  and  daughters,  each  brilliant  and  witty,  rendered  the  Loring 
home,  on  K  street,  a  centre  of  social  delight,  unsurpassed  elsewhere  at 
the  Capital. 


48 

Judge  Loring  held  the  office  likewise  of  com 
missioner  of  the  circuit  court  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  his  capacity  as  such  had  rendered 
a  decision  which  had 'the  effect  to  return  Anthony 
Burns  to  his  owner  under  the  fugitive  slave  law, 
a  decision  the  circumstances  of  which  created 
intense  excitement  in  Massachusetts,  and  have 
heen  to  this  day  held  in  remembrance  as  forming 
one  of  the  dramatic  preludes  to  the  war  for  the 
Union.  The  action  of  the  commissioner,  though 
in  obedience  to  the  plain  dictates  of  the  law,  and 
governed  by  the  purest  motives  on  his  part,  was 
bitterly  resented  by  the  people. 

Because  he  had  discharged  his  duty  Judge  Lor 
ing  suffered  an  odium  as  profound  as  it  was  unjust. 
The  newspapers  poured  upon  him  a  stream  of  vio 
lent  denunciation.  Wendell  Phillips,  the  orator 
without  a  peer,  stirred  the  people  almost  as  never 
before,  with  words  of  scornful  acrimony  and  fiery 
wrath.  Every  abolitionist  had  wrought  himself, 
and  a  good  many  of  his  neighbors,  up  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  resentful  indignation.  Some 
safety-valve  had  to  be  supplied  for  so  tremen 
dous  a  pressure  of  explosive  material ;  and  from 
all  over  the  state  came  a  stern  demand  for  the 
removal  of  the  offending  judge. 

The  legislature  passed  an  address  to  the  gov 
ernor,  asking  that  Judge  Loring  be  removed,  in 
accordance  with  the  constitution  of  Massachu- 


49 

setts,  which  provides  that  any  judge  may  be 
removed  by  the  governor  upon  the  address  of 
both  houses  of  the  legislature.  Governor  Henry 
J.  Gardner,  who  it  seems  was  a  conservative  man, 
refused  to  execute  the  will  of  the  legislature,  as 
he  had  a  right  to  do.  He  believed  that  Loring 
had  done  nothing  more  than  he  was  bound  to 
do  under  the  law;  and  that  this  act  he  had  per 
formed  not  in  the  capacity  of  a  judge  of  probate, 
but  as  a  United  States  commissioner,  over  whose 
conduct  in  office  the  state  had  no  control  what 
ever.  The  governor,  therefore,  declined  to  take 
action. 

The  members  of  the  legislature,  who  had  been 
elected  in  the  autumn  of  1857,  came  together  in 
January,  1858,  fresh  from  the  excited  people,  and 
burning  with  vengeance  against  Loring,  whose 
removal  they  were  determined  to  accomplish. 
They  meant  to  make  an  example  of  him.  No 
matter  what  might  stand  in  the  way,  they  were 
bound  to  have  his  official  head  taken  off. 

But  a  respectable  number  of  men  in  the  legis 
lature  and  outside  entertained  more  conserva 
tive  views  ;  while  sympathizing  with  the  feeling 
against  Loring,  they  were  not  willing  to  have 
him  removed  by  address.  Circumstances  favored 
them  at  least  in  one  respect.  There  were  in 
each  county  a  judge  of  probate  and  a  judge  of 
insolvency.  Those  favoring  a  moderate  course 


50 

conceived  the  idea  of  uniting  the  two  offices,  and 
having  but  one  judge  in  each  county,  under  the 
pretence,  that  while  one  judge  could  do  all  the 
business,  the  expense  of  two  courts,  or  of  two 
judges,  would  thus  be  reduced ;  and  moreover, 
that  by  raising  the  salary  of  a  single  judge  above 
the  sum  then  paid  to  each  of  the  two,  the  people 
would  secure  a  better  class  of  judges.  The  real 
object,  of  course,  was  to  remove  all  the  judges, 
among  whom  would  be  the  obnoxious  Loring,  at 
whom  alone  the  scheme  was  aimed. 

This  proposal,  ingenious  though  it  was,  by  no 
means  appeased  the  members  bent  upon  ven 
geance.  They  announced  themselves  disposed  to 
agree  to  the  new  plan  of  abolishing  and  consol 
idating  the  courts,  but  they  demanded  that  the 
address  for  Loring's  removal  should  be  first  passed. 
The  chairman  of  the  committee  upon  the  consoli 
dation  scheme,  Eben  F.  Stone,  of  Newburyport  (a 
classmate  of  Judge  Richardson),  sent  out  circulars 
to  the  judges  asking  their  views.  They  all  replied 
opposing  the  scheme,  with  the  single  exception  of 
Richardson.  Seeing  that  the  result  must  come, 
and  could  by  no  possibility  be  avoided,  Judge 
Richardson  had  discreetly  made  up  his  mind  to 
accept  the  inevitable.  Instead  of  opposing  the 
plan,  therefore,  his  reply  suggested  what  seemed 
to  him  the  best  way  to  accomplish  its  purpose. 
It  was  not  to  disturb  the  two  courts  of  probate 


51 

and  of  insolvency,  but  to  abolish  the  offices  of 
the  judges,  and  then  provide  for  the  appointment 
of  one  judge  of  probate  and  insolvency  in  each 
county,  who  should  ex-officio  be  judge  of  both 
courts.  By  this  method  of  procedure  the  business 
of  the  two  courts  would  be  kept  entirely  separate. 
To  be  sure,  a  question  of  the  constitutionality  of 
the  project  at  once  presented  itself;  and  while 
to  many  of  those  who  had  considered  the  subject 
it  appeared  to  be  a  matter  of  more  or  less  doubt, 
Judge  Kichardson,  always  extremely  cautious 
when  projecting  the  draft  of  a  statute,  himself 
felt  confident  upon  that  point,  and  so  assured  the 
committee. 

The  plan  thus  recommended  by  Judge  Rich 
ardson  was  finally  adopted.  A  bill  drawn  up 
by  Chairman  Stone  was  reported,  abolishing  the 
offices  of  judge  of  probate  and  judge  of  insolvency 
in  each  county,  and  establishing  the  office  of 
judge  of  probate  and  insolvency.  This  bill  and 
the  address  to  the  governor  stood  upon  the  leg 
islative  calendar  at  the  same  time.  The  friends 
of  the  two  measures  had  each  determined  to  get 
their  own  bill  up  first,  for  neither  wanted  to 
vote  against  the  other;  besides,  if  the  consoli 
dation  bill  should  first  pass,  the  address  would  be 
useless. 

The  remainder  of  the  narrative  may  be  told  in 
Judge  Richardson's  own  words  : 


52 

The  address  was  a  little  ahead,  came  to  a  vote  and  was 
passed.  After  much  debate,  the  consolidation  bill  then  came 
up  and  went  through  without  opposition.  This  turned  out  of 
office  twenty-seven  judges,  two  in  each  of  thirteen  counties, 
and  one  judge  of  probate  in  the  very  small  county  of  Dukes, 
where  he  had  done  the  business  of  both  offices  for  some  years. 
Then  came  the  appointments,  which  were  announced  a  month 
or  two  afterwards.  Banks  was  governor,  and  he  promptly 
removed  Loring,  though  he  had  been  opposed  to  that  way  of 
getting  rid  of  him.  Still  he  found  it  necessary  to  accede  to 
public  opinion,  unlike  his  predecessor,  Governor  Gardner, 
who  had  refused  to  do  so  the  year  before. 

I  had  not  voted  for  Banks  at  the  preceding  election,  and 
he  knew  it.  I  voted  for  Gardner,  who  had  twice  honored  me 
with  appointments,  although  I  had  not  voted  for  him  at  his 
first  election.  I  belonged  to  the  old  whig  party,  and  followed 
its  fortunes  until  it  expired  with  the  defeat  of  Governor  Wash- 
burn,  in  1854,  by  the  election  of  Governor  Gardner.  Parties 
were  in  a  transition  state,  and  men  voted  as  they  pleased 
without  much  reference  to  party  ties,  except  the  Democrats, 
who  never  faltered.  There  seemed  little  chance  for  me  at  the 
hands  of  Governor  Banks.  But  when  the  appointments  were 
announced  I  was  named  judge  of  probate  and  insolvency  for 
Middlesex.  Of  the  twenty-seven  judges  only  four  were 
re-appointed,  two  probate  and  two  insolvency  judges,  and 
nine  new  men  were  brought  out.  I  was  one  of  the  fortunate 
few. 

For  the  more  convenient  prosecution  of  busi 
ness,  Judge  Richardson,  in  1860,  removed  his  law 
office  from  Lowell  to  Boston,  and  took  up  a  resi 
dence  in  Cambridge.  Here  for  nearly  ten  years 
he  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  regular 
and  punctual  in  attendance  at  court,  where,  free 
from  distractions,  he  dispatched  each  day's  busi 
ness  with  ease  and  rapidity.  One  might  say  of 


53 

him  that  he  was  "  content,  because  all  things 
were  to  his  liking." 

At  this  point  a  word  or  two  may  be  permitted 
with  regard  to  the  political  and  religious  tenets 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Judge  Richardson 
was  originally  (as  his  father  had  been  before  him) 
a  whig,  and  by  natural  transition  he  became  a 
republican.  In  saying  this,  the  writer  is  not 
unmindful  of  that  small  fraction  of  the  whig 
party  in  Massachusetts,  pro-slavery  in  sentiment, 
who,  after  the  death  of  Webster  and  the  disrup 
tion  of  the  whig  party,  found  themselves  in  the 
democratic  camp.  Judge  Richardson  was  not  a 
partisan,  but  he  held  firm  political  convictions, 
and  gave  his  unswerving  adherence  to  the  doc 
trines  of  the  republican  faith.  Regardful  of  the 
proprieties  of  the  bench,  however,  he  abstained 
from  mingling  in  party  politics.  When  the 
rebellion  came,  it  found  him  intensely  loyal  to 
the  cause  of  the  Union,  and  in  fullest  sympathy 
with  the  public  utterances  and  acts  of  Abraham 
Lincoln. 

It  used  to  be  good-naturedly  said  of  Judge 
Story,  that  so  fixed  were  his  views  upon  religious 
subjects,  and  so  hearty  his  belief  in  his  own 
church,  that,  with  rare  exuberance  of  spirit, 
whenever  he  met  a  stranger  and  the  conversa 
tion  reverted  to  the  topic  of  religion,  he,  unless 
informed  to  the  contrary,  took  it  for  granted 


54 

that  his  companion  was  a  Unitarian.  Judge 
Richardson  did  not  go  to  this  length.  Indeed,  he 
rarely  discussed  the  subject  of  any  man's  belief, 
or  of  attendance  upon  public  worship.  He  was 
a  Unitarian,  and  at  Washington  was  an  active 
and  valued  member  of  a  church  of  that  denomi 
nation,  where  he  was  esteemed  as  a  man  of  good 
works,  as  well  as  of  liberal  belief.*  It  may  be  said 
of  Judge  Richardson  that  alike  in  politics  and 
religion,  he  entertained  decided  views,  but  he 
enjoyed  them  in  serenity,  and  with  no  desire  to 
impose  them  upon  others. 

The  career  of  the  American  lawyer  who  sticks 
to  his  profession  is  for  the  most  part  uneventful ; 
and  the  life  we  have  had  under  review  has  thus 
far  flowed  with  a  smooth  current.  The  labor  of 
the  bench  proving  to  his  taste  Judge  Richardson 
had  reason  to  look  forward  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  events  to  a  long  continuance  in  office.  But 
fate  had  willed  it  otherwise.  Without  previous 
warning,  he  who  above  others  felt  himself  bound 
by  strong  ties  to  home  and  familiar  scenes,  was 
called  upon  to  put  off  the  judicial  robe  and  enter 
into  a  field  of  public  service,  of  a  character  wholly 
different  from  that  to  which  he  had  hitherto  been 
accustomed. 

When  General  Grant  had  taken  the  oath  of 

*  All  Souls',  of  which  for  many  years  he  was  a  trustee.  One  of  the 
most  beautiful  windows  of  stained  glass  in  the  country  is  that  in  memory 
of  Mrs.  Richardson,  placed  in  that  church  in  1881,  by  her  husband. 


55 

office  for  his  first  term  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  he  treated  the  country,  it  may  be  recalled, 
to  a  genuine  surprise  by  sending  to  the  Senate 
the  name  of  A.  T.  Stewart,  of  New  York,  to  be 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Hardly  had  the  news 
of  the  President's  choice  gone  to  the  country, 
when  somebody  discovered  that  Mr.  Stewart, 
being  in  trade,  was  disqualified  under  the  law. 
Withdrawing  the  nomination,  the  President  sub 
stituted  a  name  at  the  announcement  of  which 
the  people  were  as  much  gratified  as  they  had 
before  been  astonished.  Notwithstanding  that  he 
had  already  taken  one  member  of  the  cabinet 
from  Massachusetts,  the  President  honored  that 
state  still  further  by  selecting  for  the  treasury, 
George  Sewall  Bout  well,  one  of  the  ablest  of 
a  distinguished  line  of  statesmen  sent  by  the 
Commonwealth  to  Congress,  or  elevated  to  the 
position  of  her  chief  magistracy.  It  is  enough  to 
say  of  Governor  Boutwell  that  the  reputation 
earned  by  his  long  and  varied  public  service, 
gave  assurance  to  the  country  that  the  grave 
question  of  our  financial  policy, — the  problem  of 
the  hour, — would  be  wisely  solved  by  him,  a 
confidence  indeed  that  subsequent  events  amply 
sustained. 

A  resident  of  Groton  since  1835,  Boutwell  had 
been  from  that  date  a  warm  personal  friend  of 
Judge  Richardson.  That  he  accepted  the  Treas- 


56 

ury,  yielding  after  a  brief  time  only  for  delibera 
tion,  was  in  part  because  his  mind  had  reverted 
to  his  friend  on  the  bench  in  Middlesex,  as  the 
man  of  all  others  that  he  wanted  for  assistant 
secretary.  President  Grant  had,  as  it  were,  im 
pressed  Governor  Boutwell  into  service,  and  the 
latter  in  turn  literally  reached  out  for  the  Massa 
chusetts  judge  to  come  to  his  help.  The  first 
intimation  to  Judge  Richardson  that  he  was 
needed  reached  him  in  the  shape  of  a  telegram 
from  the  new  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  asking  if 
he  would  accept  the  office  of  assistant  secretary. 
He  hastened  to  Washington,  and  after  a  protracted 
consultation  between  the  two  friends,  his  consent, 
most  reluctantly  yielded,  was  given  to  take  the 
position  for  the  time  being.  This  occurred  near 
the  end  of  March,  1869. 

Meanwhile  a  vacancy  happening  on  the  bench 
of  the  superior  court  of  the  state,  Governor  Claf- 
lin,  unwilling  that  the  services  of  such  a  man 
should  be  lost  to  Massachusetts,  tendered  the 
appointment  to  Judge  Richardson.  The  honor 
was  declined,  upon  the  earnest  protest  of  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury,  although  the  Governor  had 
proceeded  so  far  as  to  make  out  the  commission. 

The  post  of  assistant  secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
at  the  head  of  a  force  of  officers  and  clerks  which 
numbered  in  Washington  alone  nearly  twenty- 
two  hundred  persons,  was,  it  may  well  be  imag- 


57 

ined,  no  sinecure.  It  offered  a  certainty  of  hard 
work,  to  be  kept  up  without  cessation.  This 
prospect,  however,  rather  attracted  Judge  Rich 
ardson  than  otherwise.  That  his  duty,  as  it 
seemed  to  him,  plainly  lay  at  home,  accounts  for 
the  extreme  reluctance  which  marked  his  tarry 
ing  at  Washington.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  while 
day  after  day  went  by,  he  attempted  more  than 
once  to  resign,  but  his  repeated  resignations  were 
disregarded.  Meanwhile,  he  retained  the  office 
of  judge  of  probate  and  insolvency  of  Middlesex, 
expecting  before  long  to  be  at  home  in  Cambridge. 
The  unusual  character  of  his  entry  upon  ad 
ministrative  duties  at  Washington  is  noted  here 
in  order  that  the  reader  may  the  more  completely 
enter  into  the  spirit  of  generosity  and  friendship 
with  which  Secretary  Boutwell  alludes  to  this 
interesting  period  of  their  joint  career.  In  an 
address  of  mingled  force  and  feeling,  delivered 
before  the  Court  of  Claims,  upon  the  occasion  of 
the  proceedings  in  memory  of  the  Chief  Justice, 
the  distinguished  ex-Secretary,  having  dwelt  upon 
the  reluctance  of  his  friend  to  come  to  Washing 
ton,  observes : 

After  a  delay  of  several  months,  he  yielded  to  my  impor 
tunities,  but  against  his  own  inclinations,  and  thus  entered  a 
larger  field  of  public  service. 

In  the  three  and  a  half  years  of  our  association,  he  contrib 
uted  largely  to  whatever  of  success  was  attained  during  my 
administration  of  the  Treasury  Department.* 

*Appendix,  post,  p.  xlv. 


58 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  in  consenting  to  take 
upon  himself  the  burden  of  an  office,  new  to  his 
experience,  the  assistant  was  admitted  to  the 
fullest  confidence  of  his  chief.  The  two  rejoiced 
not  only  in  the  harmony  of  a  close  friendship,  but 
in  the  growth  that  comes  from  daily  contact  of 
one  superior  mind  with  another  while  dealing 
with  subjects  of  large  concern,  and  breathing  the 
free  atmosphere  of  high,  intellectual  endeavor. 

Whatever  diversity  of  opinion  may  prevail  as 
to  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  adopted  by  Secretary 
Chase  of  issuing  paper  money  to  carry  on  the 
war,  it  gave  birth  at  least  to  one  chapter  of  our 
financial  history  that  excites  nothing  but  admir 
ation.  The  resolve  of  the  people  to  maintain  at 
the  highest  possible  standard  the  credit  of  the 
United  States,  while  bearing  the  burden  of  an 
enormous  war  debt,  won  for  them  the  respect  of 
the  world.  It  is  of  course  impossible  to  ascribe 
to  any  one  man,  or  set  of  men,  the  credit  for  this 
sound  public  sentiment;  yet  there  were  leaders  of 
political  thought  to  whom  special  honor  is  due 
for  advancing  and  unflinchingly  maintaining 
correct  and  hopeful  views,  whence  came  the  im 
petus  that  ended  in  legislation  appropriate  to  this 
desired  end.  Of  these  eminent  men  no  one  stands 
deservedly  higher  in  public  esteem  than  George 
S.  Boutwell. 

The  debt  of  the  United  States  when   largest 


59 

(1  March,  1866)  stood  at  the  enormous  figures  of 
$2,707,856,000.22.  Such  was  the  legacy  left  to 
the  American  people  by  the  war  for  the  Union. 
The  original  legal-tender  act,  in  its  title,  was  an 
authority  for  "  the  issue  of  notes  and  the  redemp 
tion  and  funding  thereof,"  and  it  provided  for 
the  funding  of  the  floating  debt  of  the  United 
States.  It  required  that  duties  on  imported  goods 
should  be  paid  in  coin,  and  that  such  coin  should 
be  set  apart  as  a  special  fund,  first  for  the  pay 
ment  in  coin  of  the  interest  on  the  bonds  and 
notes  of  the  United  States ;  and  next  for  the  pur 
chase  or  payment  of  one  per  centum  of  the  entire 
debt  of  the  United  States,  to  be  made  within  each 
fiscal  year  after  the  1st  of  July,  1862,  this  to  be  set 
apart  as  a  sinking  fund,  and  the  interest  thereon, 
in  a  like  manner,  to  be  applied  to  the  purchase  or 
payment  of  the  public  debt  as  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  should  direct.  While  war  was 
flagrant,  the  government  struggling  for  existence 
was  still  borrowing  money  to  pay  old  loans,  and 
creating  new  ones,  so  that  no  steps  were  taken  to 
establish  a  sinking  fund  as  such.  Coin  in  the 
Treasury,  however,  was  allowed  to  accumulate  to 
the  amount  of  about  $100,000,000. 

President  Grant   in  his  inaugural  address,  4 
March,  1869,  employed  this  significant  language : 

A  great  debt  has  been  contracted  in  securing  to  us  and  to 
our  posterity  the  Union.    The  payment  of  this,  principal  and 


interest,  as  well  as  the  return  to  a  specie  basis,  as  soon  as  it 
can  be  accomplished  without  material  detriment  to  the  labor 
classes,  or  to  the  country  at  large,  must  be  provided  for. 

A  prompt  yet  safely  conducted  reduction  of  the 
public  debt*  was  the  key-note  of  Secretary  Bout- 
well's  administration.  To  this  end  with  a  firm 
and  inflexible  purpose  he  bent  his  energies.  He 
meant  that  not  a  single  item  of  taxation  should 
be  prematurely  given  up,  but  that  the  country 
should  practice  economy  and  devote  every  dollar 
it  could  save  to  the  payment  of  its  bonds.  He  set 
at  once  to  work  to  begin  the  creation  of  an  actual 
sinking  fund,  in  literal  compliance  with  the  law 
of  Congress,  hitherto  neglected.  He  proposed  a 
plan  for  funding  the  national  debt  which  Con 
gress  sanctioned  and  embodied  in  the  important 
legislation  of  14  July,  1870,  enabling  the  Secretary 
to  fund  in  new  securities  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest, 
that  part  of  the  national  debt  represented  by  five- 
twenty  bonds,  f 

Although  to  one  looking  back  upon  its  suc 
cessful  execution,  the  plan  may  now  appear  per 
fectly  simple  and  easy,  it  in  truth  represented 
at  the  time  the  result  of  anxious  thought,  a 
courageous  faith,  and  the  exercise  of  sound 
judgment.  Gold,  at  that  period,  it  should  be 

*The  public  debt,  1  March,  1869,  was  $2,525,463,200.01,  a  reduction  of 
about  $180,000,000  from  the  highest  point  it  had  ever  reached. 

f  So-called  because  redeemable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  United  States 
after  five  years,  and  payable  twenty  years  from  date.  They  were  first  issued 
in  1862  ;  and  they  bore  six  per  cent,  interest,  payable  semi-annually. 


61 

remembered,  still  commanded  a  premium;  and 
there  were  many  who  insisted  that  resumption  of 
specie  payments  could  not  be  accomplished,  and 
that  it  was  only  a  delusion  to  believe  that  the 
war  debt  of  the  United  States  would  ever  be 
extinguished. 

Now  that  the  policy  of  the  government  had 
taken  shape,  it  remained  for  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  accomplish  the  business  of  disposing 
of  the  new  five  per  cents.  This  was  a  task  of  no 
little  magnitude.  The  previous  season,  owing  to 
the  Franco-Prussian  war,  was  unfavorable  for 
placing  a  loan  of  the  United  States  abroad ;  and 
that  branch  of  the  work  had  to  be  temporarily 
deferred.  Meanwhile,  at  the  request  of  the  Sec 
retary,  the  amount  of  the  five  per  cents  had 
been  increased  by  Congress  from  $200,000,000 
to  $500,000,000,  and  a  discretion  had  been  con 
ferred  upon  him  to  make  the  interest  payable 
quarter-yearly.  The  assistant  secretary  entered 
zealously  into  the  spirit  of  the  enterprise.  He 
was  active  in  letter  writing  and  in  personal  con 
ference  with  leading  bankers  and  capitalists, 
where  he  displayed  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
needs  of  the  government,  and  of  the  capacity  of 
private  individuals,  firms  and  corporations  to  take 
the  loan,  and  showed  likewise  a  keen  insight  into 
the  practical  workings  of  the  money  market.  As 
illustrating  with  what  clearness  of  vision  he  sur- 


62 

veyed  the  situation,  the  following  extract  may  be 
cited,  from  a  letter  of  his  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  17  March,  1871,  reporting  the  result  of 
an  interview  on  that  day  in  New  York  city  with 
certain  prominent  bankers : 

I  can  see  the  reason  they  want  me  here,  which  I  did  not 
understand  at  first.  They  are  all  deeply  engaged  in  other 
matters ;  they  can  not  be  got  together  unless  it  is  to  meet  some 
body  ;  and  when  they  do  get  together  they  are  all  in  a  hurry 
to  get  away,  and  all  talk  at  the  same  time,  and  they  want 
some  one  to  bring  order  out  of  the  chaos  of  their  discussions 
and  to  sum  up  the  general  conclusions,  which  I  have  done  as 
well  as  I  am  able.  As  you  take  up  the  matter  where  I  leave 
off  I  trust  you  will  not  think  their  conclusions  were  reached 
at  once  and  were  discussed  afterwards.  I  think  it  is  a  decided 
advantage  that  you  can  consider  these  propositions  from  an 
entirely  different  standpoint  from  that  of  the  parties  who 
discussed  them,  and  from  that  of  myself  who  heard  them 
discussed. 

The  Secretary  had  caused  public  announcement 
to  be  made  in  February,  1871,  that  on  the  6th 
of  March  following  books  would  be  opened  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe  for  subscriptions,  the  first 
preference  being  given  to  subscribers  for  the  five 
per  cents.  By  the  first  of  August  nearly  sixty -six 
millions  had  been  taken,  chiefly  by  the  national 
banks,  leaving  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  mil 
lions  to  be  disposed  of  in  Europe,  with  such 
added  subscriptions  at  home  as  might  reasonably 
be  counted  upon  at  that  advanced  stage  of  the 
business. 

The  banking  house  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Company, 


63 

confident  of  their  ability  to  place  the  loan,  had 
undertaken  to  obtain  subscriptions  for  this  large 
amount,  the  bonds  to  be  delivered  on  the  first  day 
of  December,  1871.  The  house  was  not  however 
an  agent  of  the  government  under  any  specified 
authority.  Upon  making  subscriptions  each  sub 
scriber  was  to  pay  down  five  per  cent,  on  the  sum, 
which  amount  was  to  be  applied  to  the  payment 
of  the  principal  of  the  bonds  when  the  same  were 
delivered;  if  the  subscriber  was  disinclined  to  take 
the  bonds,  the  five  per  cent,  became  forfeited  to 
the  banking  firm. 

At  that  season,  it  should  be  understood,  the 
house  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Company  was  a  strong  one, 
full  of  resources.  Their  energy  practically  brought 
about  the  result  at  which  they  had  aimed,  namely, 
a  disposition  of  the  whole  of  the  remaining  amount 
of  the  five  per  cents,  almost  all  of  which  was 
placed  abroad.  The  new  bonds  had  to  be  shipped 
to  London,  and  could  be  delivered  to  Jay  Cooke 
&  Company  there  upon  payment  by  them  in  gold, 
or  by  delivery  of  an  equal  amount  of  five-twenties, 
both  sets  of  bonds  being  reckoned  at  their  respec 
tive  par  values. 

The  tremendous  responsibility  of  handling 
these  new  bonds  rested  upon  Secretary  Boutwell. 
Of  course,  he  had  to  trust  somebody  with  their 
actual  custody  and  delivery  in  a  foreign  country. 
The  one  man  whom  he  knew  that  he  could  rely 


64 

upon  to  discharge  efficiently  this  duty  was  close 
at  hand.  He  selected  the  assistant  secretary, 
though  a  temporary  absence  of  that  officer  from 
his  post  would  be  severely  felt  at  the  Treasury. 

Another  duty  not  less  grave,  and  one  that  re 
quired  for  its  successful  performance  much  tact 
and  delicacy,  was  to  examine  the  ground,  both  in 
England  and  upon  the  continent,  with  reference 
to  negotiating  a  similar  loan  at  four  and  a-half 
per  cent.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  for 
this  office,  at  the  period  named,  no  one  of  a  fit 
ness  superior  to  Judge  Richardson  could  have 
been  suggested. 

Plans  were  concluded  for  the  safe  transporta 
tion  to  London  of  the  new  securities,  and  for  the 
redemption  thereby  of  the  five-twenties  for  which 
a  call  had  been  issued.  A  clerical  force  having 
been  specially  selected  and  arrangements  com 
pleted  for  their  transportation,  Assistant  Secre 
tary  Richardson,  accompanied  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Bige- 
low,  chief  of  the  loan  division,  sailed  from  New 
York  on  the  14th  of  June.  They  went  directly 
through  to  London. 

Upon  arrival,  the  assistant  secretary  lost  no 
time  in  securing  proper  quarters.  His  object 
was  to  occupy  rooms  in  close  proximity  to  the 
banks,  and  yet  wholly  apart  from  any  banking- 
house.  Quarters  were  finally  obtained  at  41  Lom 
bard  street,  in  the  City,  a  locality  that  may  be 


65 

described  as  the  actual  financial  centre  of  the  world. 
Here  the  clerks,  provided  with  ledgers  and  other 
conveniences  for  keeping  accounts  and  carrying 
on,  under  proper  checks,  the  business  of  issuing 
bonds,  and  buying  and  cancelling  bonds  that  had 
been  redeemed,  were  ready  to  work  out  the  de 
tails  of  the  important  transaction  for  which  they 
had  been  brought  across  the  water.  It  was  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  branch  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States,  opened  at  London. 

The  new  bonds  were  in  condition  for  shipment, 
and  were  sent  from  the  Treasury  on  the  first  of 
September.  Three  clerks,  in  whom  the  depart 
ment  imposed  a  more  than  usual  confidence,  were 
given  charge  of  a  safe  containing  the  bonds,  whose 
value  ran  up  into  the  millions.  These  men  were 
armed.  Not  for  one  moment  from  the  time  the 
safe  left  the  Treasury  building  in  Washington 
(except  while  in  the  "strong  room"  of  a  Cunard 
steamer)  until  it  was  delivered  to  Assistant  Sec 
retary  Richardson  in  person,  at  the  branch  office 
in  London  was  the  precious  object  out  of  the 
sight  of  at  least  two  of  these  government  officials. 
Similar  precautions  were  observed  in  shipping 
home  the  bonds  which  were  received  in  exchange ; 
and  in  fact  whenever  it  became  necessary  to  take 
securities  across  the  ocean. 

The  Treasury  Department  could  know  only  in 
a  general  way  how  large  was  the  volume  of  the 


66 

coupon  bonds  of  the  United  States  held  in  Europe. 
What  amount  was  owned  in  England,  what  in 
Germany  and  what  in  Holland,  it  was  impossible 
to  determine.  Besides,  it  was  not  easy  to  get 
word  to  holders  that  their  bonds  had  been  called, 
and  it  resulted  that  while  a  very  large  proportion 
quickly  reached  London  for  redemption,  much 
remained  outstanding.  On  17  September,  1871, 
the  assistant  secretary  of  the  Treasury  had  in  his 
possession  at  London  $30,000,000  of  the  new  five 
per  cent,  bonds. 

His  first  action  was  to  sell  outright  a  portion 
of  them,  for  which  he  received  gold.  This  gold 
he  placed  on  deposit  in  the  Bank  of  England,* 
and  with  it  he  was  ready  to  pay  such  holders  of 
5-20 's  as  preferred  to  receive  in  exchange  money 
rather  than  new  bonds.  The  amount  called  was 
$100,000,000,  and  interest  ceased  1  December, 
1871.  From  a  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  of  that  date  we  learn  that  the  depart 
ment  had  in  its  possession  1  December,  1871, 
more  than  $80,000,000  of  the  bonds.  Of  these, 
$17,000,000  had  been  paid  in  coin,  while  the 

*  Not  a  little  difficulty  was  experienced  by  him  in  arranging  this  de 
posit  so  as  to  conform  to  the  rules  of  the  Bank  of  England,  and  at  the 
same  time  render  it  possible  for  him  to  draw  out  the  money  upon  his  own 
check.  The  solution  of  this  problem  will  be  found  described  in  a  report 
from  Assistant  Secretary  Richardson  to  Secretary  Boutwell,  which  is 
printed  in  the  Appendix,  post.  At  one  time  there  was  on  the  books  of  the 
Bank  standing  to  the  credit  of  the  assistant  secretary  more  money  than 
had  ever  been  on  deposit  to  the  credit  of  any  one  man  since  the  Bank 
was  created. 


67 

remainder  had  been  received  on  deposit  in  ex 
change  for  five  per  cents. 

The  business  once  set  in  operation  went  on 
with  a  considerable  degree  of  regularity.  The 
clerks  worked  willingly,  sometimes  far  beyond 
the  usual  office  hours.  The  supply  of  bonds  for 
redemption,  as  already  intimated,  varied  in 
amount  so  that  at  some  seasons  the  work  to  be 
accomplished  was  greater  than  at  others. 

The  mission  entrusted  to  Assistant  Secretary 
Richardson,  as  we  have  seen,  was  such  as  to  test 
his  ability  not  only  as  an  executive  officer,  but  as 
a  diplomat,  so  to  speak,  in  finance.  To  distribute 
by  safe  and  expeditious  process  an  enormous 
amount  of  public  securities  already  bespoken, 
constitutes  in  itself  a  work  that  few  men  are 
qualified  to  prosecute.  But  to  go  further,  and 
while  engrossed  in  this  work  to  watch  closely  the 
field  of  European  finance,  with  a  view  of  placing 
most  advantageously  another  loan  at  a  lower  rate 
of  interest ;  to  measure  the  capacities,  and  to  over 
come  the  prejudices  of  the  great  bankers  of  Eng 
land  and  of  the  Continent, — this  indeed  was  to  tax 
the  powers  of  the  most  astute  and  experienced 
leader  in  public  financial  affairs.  Herein  Judge 
Richardson  displayed  talent  of  a  rare  order.  At 
each  step  he  proved  himself  alert,  keenly  observant, 
and  to  a  remarkable  degree  sagacious. 

He  appears  to  have  sought  from  the  beginning 


68 

by  all  available  means  to  enlarge  the  circle  of 
persons  abroad  who  were  really  influential,  and 
whom  it  was  desirable  to  acquaint  with  the 
nature  of  our  securities.  His  methods  were  far- 
sighted.  He  labored  to  inculcate  a  belief  in  the 
stability  of  our  government,  and  in  the  certainty 
that  our  indebtedness  would  be  paid  dollar  for 
dollar.  Above  all  he  kept  steadily  in  view  the 
fact  that,  with  credit  improving,  we  could  borrow 
at  a  lower  rate  of  interest.  He  contrived  to  meet 
in  person  and  talk  with  the  heads  of  the  great 
banking  houses.  At  these  interviews,  his  atti 
tude  was  that  of  a  man  having  something  to  sell, 
which  the  prospective  customer  wanted  to  get  as 
cheaply  as  possible.  It  was  a  prime  requisite 
that  the  official  representing  the  United  States 
should  be  able  to  feel  sure  of  his  ground,  by 
reason  of  his  complete  apprehension  of  the 
financial  situation.  So  far  as  one  may  ascertain, 
from  papers,  official  and  otherwise,  bearing  upon 
the  subject,  this  requirement  was  amply  met. 

The  reader  ought  to  be  reminded  that  although 
the  United  States,  from  the  clay  that  the  war 
closed,  had  caused  it  to  be  made  known  that 
their  obligations  would  be  paid  dollar  for  dollar, 
and  had  in  proof  of  good  faith  gone  on  diminish 
ing  the  amount  of  the  indebtedness,  still  so  vast- 
was  the  total  that  the  credit  abroad  of  the 
government,  while  in  the  main  good,  was  by 


69 

some  banking  firms  held  under  suspicion.  The 
financial  editor  of  the  Times,  for  example,  did  not 
hesitate  to  inform  the  representative  of  the 
Treasury  that,  for  his  part,  he  did  not  consider 
as  quite  safe  the  loan  of  any  country  governed 
by  universal  suffrage.  One  of  the  great  money 
kings,  whose  name  if  disclosed  would  be  recog 
nized  the  world  over,  though  proffering  social 
advances,  and  treating  the  assistant  secretary 
with  all  proper  respect,  could  scarcely  conceal 
from  him  a  profound  sense  of  hostility  to  the 
loan.  Not  only  this,  the  members  of  his  banking- 
house  were  actually  discouraging  investors  from 
purchasing  our  new  bonds.  The  house,  it  seems, 
was  then  devoting  much  attention  to  the  French 
loan,  and  Judge  Richardson  was  favored  with 
the  remark,  "  Of  course,  everybody  would  prefer 
a  French  bond  to  an  American  one  at  the  same 
price." 

Nor  had  the  treaty  of  Washington,  with  its 
avowed  purpose  of  healing  enmities  between 
England  and  America  and  of  bringing  the  two 
countries  into  closer  accord,  the  effect  in  the 
slightest  to  render  our  securities  popular  among 
the  banks  and  the  investors  of  London.  One 
reason  why  money  lenders  in  England  were  not 
disposed  to  look  with  favor  upon  large  purchases 
of  United  States  securities  was  because  of  the 
great  losses  suffered  by  many  who,  eager  for  large 


70 

dividends,  had  invested  in  the  Erie  railroad. 
This  corporation,  it  will  be  remembered,  through 
the  management  of  Fisk  and  Gould,  had  brought 
into  public  notice  abroad  the  uncertainty,  to  say 
the  least,  of  investments  in  an  American  bonded 
debt.  Government  bonds  of  the  United  States 
suffered  because  Englishmen  had  lost  money 
which  they  had  put  into  the  securities  of  a 
private  American  corporation. 

These  facts  are  laid  before  the  reader  in  order 
that  he  may  possess  a  proper  sense  of  the  obstacles 
with  which  Judge  Richardson  had  to  contend. 
After  having  exchanged  views  with  the  represen 
tatives  of  the  great  houses  in  London,  he  visited, 
on  a  like  errand,  Amsterdam,  Frank fort-on-the- 
Main,  Hamburg,  and  Paris.  At  each  of  these 
cities,  in  his  capacity  as  representative  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  he  met  the 
leading  men  who  controlled  financial  operations, 
and  talked  with  them  in  explanation  of  what 
the  United  States  expected  to  accomplish.  He 
appears  to  have  acquired  a  wholesome  respect 
for  Dutch  bankers,  esteeming  their  capacities  as 
much  in  advance  of  those  of  the  heads  of  the 
great  banking  houses  in  London.  He  frequently 
dined  out,  and  was  the  recipient  of  numerous 
social  attentions,  quietly  taking  the  measure 
all  the  while  of  the  men  whom  he  met,  and 
their  power  to  control  large  sums  of  money.  Of 


71 

one  of  these  bankers,  for  instance,  he  remarks,  "I 
was  with  him  a  good  deal,  dined  with  him,  and 
talked  much  about  our  bonds  and  investments 
generally.  Socially,  I  liked  him  very  much,  but 
financially,  I  found  him  of  no  account  whatever." 

Then,  too,  he  noted  and  made  due  allowance 
for  the  inevitable  jealousies  and  heated  rivalry 
that  his  presence  in  Europe  upon  such  a  mission 
could  not  but  engender.  To  add  to  his  respon 
sibilities,  there  were  one  or  two  Americans,  of 
foreign  birth,  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  indi 
viduals  who  affected  to  know  precisely  how  fund 
ing  operations  should  be  carried  on,  and  who 
were  free  in  their  criticism  of  the  policy  of  the 
administration.  These  men  took  pains  to  have 
it  understood  that  they  were  foreign  correspond 
ents  of  influential  journals  in  the  United  States. 
In  what  Judge  Richardson  said,  and  still  more 
in  what  he  omitted  to  say,  to  all  such  persons,  it 
is  known  that  he  acted  with  admirable  tact  and 
discretion. 

His  reports,  both  official  and  private,  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  show  that  he  was 
easily  master  of  the  situation.  He  counted  upon 
returning  home,  where  he  much  wished  to  be ; 
but  there  was  more  for  him  to  do,  and  conse 
quently  his  return  was,  with  his  cheerful  assent, 
postponed  until  spring.  He  speaks  of  meeting 
persons  of  character  and  standing  almost  daily 


72 

who  desired  to  talk  with  him  in  relation  to  our 
national  debt,  the  new  loan  and  the  resources  of 
the  country,  as  well  as  the  policy  of  the  admin 
istration.  To  all  who  sought  it  he  could  furnish 
information,  in  full  detail,  better  perhaps  than 
any  other  man  who  might  have  been  sent  abroad. 
He  says : 

I  am  sowing  the  seeds,  the  fruits  of  which  to  some  small 
extent  are  seen  and  will  continue  to  be  seen  more  and  more 
in  the  increased  popularity  of  our  new  loan,  at  reduced  rates 
of  interest,  among  the  investors  of  England. 

The  governor  of  the  Bank  of  England,  for  ex 
ample,  after  expressing  the  greatest  admiration 
for  the  policy  of  the  United  States,  in  regularly 
and  largely  reducing  the  national  debt,  admitted 
to  the  assistant  secretary  that — 

Until  lately  he  had  always  thought  that  the  debt  could 
not  be  reduced,  but  it  had  been  shown  that  the  resources  of 
the  country  were  so  enormous,  and  the  determination  of  the 
nation  to  pay  the  debt  so  fixed  and  settled,  we  should  now  be 
able  to  borrow  money  at  four  per  cent. 

In  acquainting  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
with  the  circumstances  of  this  interview,  the  judge 
adds  shrewdly  : 

I  can  not  help  believing  that  the  fact  of  your  having  some 
three  millions  pounds  sterling  here  in  London,  for  which  the 
government  appears  to  have  no  immediate  use,  has  con 
tributed  no  little  in  the  mind  of  the  governor  and  the  directors 
of  the  Bank  of  England,  and  others  who  know  it,  to  strengthen 
the  credit  of  the  United  States  in  this  great  metropolis. 


73 

We  pass  over  the  details  of  his  stay  to  mention 
one  occurrence  of  striking  import.  There  are 
many  now  living  who  can  recall  vividly  the 
intense  excitement  that  seized  upon  the  English 
press  and  people  over  the  prospect  of  "the  indi 
rect  claims"  for  the  depredations  of  the  Confed 
erate  cruisers  being  made  the  subject  of  action 
by  the  tribunal  at  Geneva,  under  the  treaty  of 
Washington.  Perhaps  no  single  event  in  recent 
British  political  history,  of  interest  to  Americans, 
is  more  striking  than  the  suddenness  and  depth 
of  the  popular  feeling  in  England  which  threat 
ened  to  wreck  the  treaty  and  postpone  the  settle 
ment  of  the  Alabama  claims. 

Judge  Richardson  went  through  this  tempest 
with  calmness  and  with  a  perfectly  clear  vision. 
He  did  not  in  the  least  degree  misconceive  the 
impression  made  upon  the  English  people  of  all 
classes  of  society,  or  exaggerate  its  importance. 
Writing  in  February,  1872,  he  says : 

It  is  astonishing  what  a  scare  this  case  has  made  in 
England.  People  are  fearfully  alarmed  lest  there  should  be 
war.  All  hopes  of  any  further  negotiations  of  the  funded 
loan  until  this  scare  is  over  must  be  abandoned,  but  it 
enables  me  to  buy  old  bonds.  I  have  bought  largely  for 
delivery  by  the  middle  of  February,  and  I  think  by  the 
middle  of  March,  if  not  sooner,  I  shall  have  invested  all  the 
money  I  shall  have  received.  The  last  million  of  bonds  sent 
over  will  not  be  sold  unless  there  is  a  great  change  in  public 
sentiment. 


74 

One  of  the  first  results  of  the  fright  at  the 
spectre  of  the  indirect  claims  was,  as  the  judge 
remarks,  to  send  down,  in  the  London  market, 
the  price  of  our  bonds.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  know,  if  some  genius  at  figures  were  to  work 
out  the  problem,  how  much  was  saved  to  the 
United  States  Treasury  by  this  depreciation  for 
the  time  being  in  our  securities. 

Assistant  Secretary  Richardson  did  not  return 
home  until  early  in  the  spring  of  1872,  reaching 
New  York  in  the  "China"  of  the  Cunard  line, 
and  bringing  home  the  books  and  official 
records.  The  last  instalment  of  $12,000,000  of 
retired  bonds  arrived  in  New  York  about  the 
same  time  by  another  steamer.  The  system 
which  he  had  established  was  continued;  and 
the  way  once  opened  the  work  was  kept  up  with 
more  or  less  fluctuation,  according  to  the  course 
of  events,  tending  to  advance  or  depress  the 
market  price  at  London  of  the  securities  of  the 
United  States. 

An  interesting  outcome  of  the  successful  plac 
ing  of  this  loan  was  the  complete  change  of  tone 
that  ensued  on  the  part  of  English  bankers. 
The  very  individuals  who  had  expressed  in  such 
positive  terms  their  conviction  of  the  precarious 
nature  of  the  securities  of  the  United  States  were 
now  entertaining  an  entirely  different  opinion. 
An  animated  demand  for  the  bonds  began  to 


75 

spring  up  in  every  direction.  The  power  and 
the  perfect  good  faith  of  the  United  States  had 
been  most  satisfactorily  demonstrated.  No  small 
share  in  this  success  may,  with  propriety,  be 
credited,  and  indeed  ought  to  be  credited,  to 
the  faithful  services  of  the  quiet,  modest  repre 
sentative  of  the  Treasury,  whom  Secretary  Bout- 
well  had  sent  abroad.  From  that  time  onward 
no  difficulty  whatever  has  been  experienced  in 
Europe  in  disposing  of  any  portion  of  our  public 
loan. 

Immediately  after  arriving  at  Washington,  he 
resigned  his  probate  judgeship,  thus  settling  for 
the  time  being  at  least,  the  question  of  his  stay 
at  the  Capital.  In  a  letter  11  April,  1872,  to  the 
governor  of  Massachusetts  (Washburn),  he  says : 

With  great  attachment  for  the  county  of  my  birth,  and  the 
people  among  whom  I  have  always  lived,  my  own  preference 
has  been  and  still  is,  to  remain  in  the  position  in  Massachu 
setts  which  I  have  held  so  many  years ;  but  on  returning  to 
Washington  at  this  time,  I  have  been  induced,  contrary  to  my 
own  inclination,  to  continue  for  some  time  longer  as  assistant 
secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  and  now,  having  decided  upon 
that  course,  I  prefer  to  forward  to  you  my  resignation. 

The  retention  of  a  judicial  office  during  so 
long  a  period  of  absence  from  the  State  was,  to 
say  the  least,  somewhat  out  of  the  usual  course. 
It  is  however  readily  explained.  When  dis 
patched  abroad  he  had  been  given  to  understand 
that  his  labors  would  be  required  there  for  a 


76 

brief  season  only.  He  looked  forward  to  a  speedy 
accomplishment  of  the  object  of  the  mission,  and 
a  return  to  his  home  at  Cambridge,  where  offi 
cial  labors  were  so  much  to  his  taste.  But  upon 
his  reaching  Washington,  he  was  persuaded  that 
the  familiarity  he  had  now  acquired  of  the  work 
ings  of  the  Treasury  Department,  and  the  invalu 
able  experience  gained  by  his  stay  in  Europe 
combined  to  make  it  his  plain  duty  to  remain  at 
the  post  of  assistant  secretary. 

In  the  campaign  of  1872,  the  Republicans 
stood  as  a  unit  in  their  determination  to  nomi 
nate  President  Grant  for  a  second  term.  They 
selected  as  candidate  for  vice-president,  Henry 
Wilson,  at  that  time  senator  from  Massachusetts. 
The  election  of  Grant  and  Wilson  by  an  unpre 
cedented  majority  showed  how  strong  was  the 
hold  of  the  Republican  party  upon  the  country, 
and  how  great  was  the  confidence  of  the  people 
in  the  integrity  and  wisdom  of  General  Grant. 
Soon  after  the  election  it  became  apparent  that 
Massachusetts  would  send  Secretary  Boutwell 
to  the  Senate  for  Wilson's  unexpired  term. 
Knowledge  of  this  purpose  evoked  a  curiosity 
more  than  usually  active  as  to  who  should  suc 
ceed  to  the  Treasury.  Those  who  had  closely 
watched  the  current  of  events,  and  who  knew 
how  firm  was  the  President  in  his  friendships, 
had  no  great  difficulty  in  determining  for  them- 


77 

selves  who  was  the  man  that  he  had  in  mind. 
It  was  a  well-known  trait  of  General  Grant, 
exhibited  both  in  his  military  and  civil  career, 
that  he  attached  himself  warmly  to  his  intimates, 
and  that  he  stood  by  a  friend  with  admirable  con 
stancy.  Already  the  President  had  come  to  know 
and  highly  esteem  Assistant  Secretary  Richardson. 
The  names  of  Governor  Morgan  and  of  Messrs. 
Cisco  and  Clews,  were  brought  forward  by  the 
press  of  New  York  city  as  those  of  whom  one 
was  likely  to  receive  the  appointment.  It  is 
doubtful,  however,  whether  the  President  ever 
conceived  the  idea  of  appointing  any  other  per 
son  than  Richardson,  who  was  in  fact  appointed 
17  March,  1873.* 

Many  bankers,  capitalists  and  business  men  of 
New  York  city  were  very  urgent  in  their  com 
mendation  of  one  or  more  of  the  gentlemen 
named,  for  the  reason  that  what  had  come  to  be 
known  as  the  "  Boutwell  policy  "  was  not  entirely 
to  their  liking.  There  existed  more  or  less  dis 
trust  of  the  secretary,  on  the  ground  that  he 
took  too  lax  a  view  of  the  power  of  the  Pres 
ident  to  issue  treasury  notes  up  to  the  limit  of 
$400,000,000.  While  it  was  wholly  without 
foundation,  there  was  yet  a  belief  that  Secretary 

*The  Cabinet  consisted  as  follows : 

Hamilton  Fish,  State;  William  W.  Belknap,  War;  William  A.  Rich 
ardson,  Treasury;  George  M.  Robeson,  Navy;  John  J.  Creswell,  Post  Office; 
Columbus  Delano,  Interior ;  George  H.  Williams,  Attorney  General. 


78 

Boutwell,  and  those  who  thought  with  him,  were 
too  partial  to  paper  money.  Such  a  feeling 
could  but  add  to  the  insistence  with  which  the 
names  of  New  York  candidates  were  brought 
forward  and  urged  upon  the  President. 

We  have  just  seen  how  reluctant  was  the  sub 
ject  of  this  sketch  to  lay  down  judicial  office, 
and  apply  himself  to  national  administrative 
work.  The  same  considerations  of  duty  that 
determined  him  to  forego  his  own  choice  and 
remain  at  Washington,  were  not  without  their 
force  when  the  question  of  promotion  to  be  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury  presented  itself.  That  the 
honor  and  the  prestige  of  the  high  office  carried 
great  weight  with  Judge  Richardson,  it  is  idle  to 
deny.  Nor  should  it  be  intimated  that  the  offer 
of  a  seat  in  the  cabinet  found  him  other  than 
willing  to  accept  the  distinction.  It  deserves  to  be 
said,  however,  that  the  place  was  not  sought  by 
him,  nor  was  it  taken  as  a  reward  of  ambition. 

President  Grant  liked  Secretary  Richardson; 
and  the  appointment  brought  with  it  the  mingled 
pleasure  of  a  promotion  for  public  service  well 
rendered,  and  a  token  of  personal  friendship  and 
esteem.  The  condition  of  the  public  finances  at 
this  particular  time  must  have  gone  far  to  influ 
ence  the  new  secretary  in  his  decision  to  remain 
at  Washington.  At  a  later  day,  speaking  of  the 
period  of  his  accession  to  the  Treasury,  he  char- 


79 

acterized  the  situation  as  being  "  the  worst  time 
in  the  worst  condition  of  things  that  ever  existed 
under  any  secretary." 

He  had  been  identified,  as  we  have  seen,  with 
the  successful  conduct  of  funding  operations 
abroad;  and  as  these  were  to  be  continued,  he 
must  to  some  extent  have  felt  an  obligation 
(when  so  invited)  to  remain  at  the  side  of  the 
President  until  that  great  work  had  been  carried 
nearer  to  completion.  Again,  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  Judge  Richardson  had  some  prescience  of  the 
financial  trouble  that  lay  ahead,  a  consciousness 
that  appealed  to  him  to  stand  by  the  President, 
and  vindicate  the  soundness  of  the  plans  which 
Secretary  Boutwell  with  the  aid  of  his  assistant 
secretary  had  set  in  operation.  In  a  letter  to 
Boutwell,  President  Grant  had  said  (and  the 
country  was  glad  to  hear  it)  that  with  the 
new  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  there  would  be 
"  no  departure "  from  the  financial  policy  of 
his  predecessor.  There  was  a  certain  sense  of 
relief  in  the  assurance  that  a  man  of  exper 
ience  and  a  close  friend  of  Secretary  Boutwell 
was  to  continue  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury. 
Still,  it  should  be  added  that  in  certain  quarters 
the  promotion  met  with  no  little  opposition  and 
criticism.  There  were  those  who,  while  freely 
admitting  that  the  assistant  secretary  had  admir 
ably  done  his  part,  were  apprehensive  that  a 


80 

like  measure  of  success  might  not  attend  his 
elevation  to  a  post,  exacting  in  its  many  grave 
duties,  and  compelling  him  to  take  upon  himself 
the  entire  responsibility. 

Much  has  been  written  of  the  radical  social 
changes  wrought  by  the  war  for  the  Union. 
Prominent  among  these  changes,  and  one  per 
haps  the  most  to  be  deplored,  may  be  reckoned 
an  increasing  love  of  display,  extending  in  some 
instances  to  a  lavish  and  therefore  vulgar 
expenditure  of  wealth.  So  far  as  such  a 
tendency  to  deterioration  in  national  character 
was  to  be  attributed  to  the  disturbing  influence 
of  the  sudden  acquisition  of  large  fortunes  in  war 
times,  it  has  no  doubt,  in  fact,  been  checked  by  a 
return  to  peace,  as  well  as  by  the  good  sense  of 
the  American  people.  A  lingering  effect  of  this 
false  estimate  of  the  uses  of  money  was  per 
ceptible,  however,  at  the  Capital  for  many  years 
after  the  war  had  closed. 

The  assertion  had  come  to  be  frequently  made, 
and  in  some  quarters  acquiesced  in,  that  a 
cabinet  officer  ought  to  spend  the  greater  part  of 
his  salary  in  social  entertainment.  The  amount 
of  salary  at  present  paid  to  a  ca,binet  officer,  it 
must  be  admitted,  is  none  too  large;  in  fact  one 
may  well  doubt  whether  it  be  sufficient  for  aproper 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  position.  At  all 
events,  it  is  very  generally  understood  that  a  pub- 


81 

lie  man  can  ill  afford  to  take  a  seat  in  the  cabinet, 
without  having  at  least  a  respectable  income  of 
his  own  be}Tond  what  the  salary  yields. 

Secretary  Richardson,  though  not  wealthy, 
met  in  a  generous  spirit  all  the  social  obligations 
of  his  official  rank  and  station.  While  not  spe 
cially  fond  of  society,  he  did  not  fail  to  recognize  the 
advantage  to  the  administration  of  entertaining 
upon  the  scale  that  had  become  customary,  and 
that  in  one  sense  the  world  had  a  right  to  expect. 
He  took  a  large  and  handsome  house  on  H  street 
between  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  streets  known 
as  the  "  Kennedy  house,"  and  celebrated  in  years 
gone  by  for  its  scenes  of  hospitality.  Here 
Mrs.  Richardson  and  her  daughter  welcomed  the 
visitor,  and  won  for  the  secretary  the  reputation 
of  possessing  one  of  the  most  attractive  homes  in 
Washington. 

A  commendable  trait  of  him,  the  events  of 
whose  public  life  we  are  rapidly  passing  in  re 
view,  was  his  modest  and  unaffected  bearing  in 
office,  and  his  abstention  from  seeking  popular 
applause.  Of  course  Secretary  Richardson  had  a 
desire  to  stand  well  in  public  esteem — what  right- 
minded  servant  of  the  people  has  not? — but  he 
spurned  everything  like  notoriety,  and  did  nothing 
consciously  from  a  motive  of  attracting  favorable 
attention.  When  he  could,  he  preferred  to  do 
his  work  quietly  and  unobserved,  letting  the 


82 

public  learn  that  the  work  was  accomplished  as 
their  first  intimation  that  he  had  been  engaged 
in  doing  it. 

An  instance  of  his  carrying  through  to  success 
a  highly  important  undertaking,  and  yet  dispens 
ing  with  any  "flourish  of  trumpets"  about  it,  is 
seen  in  the  circumstances  attending  the  method, 
originated  and  carried  out  by  him,  to  effect  the 
payment  by  Great  Britain  of  the  fifteen  and  a  half 
millions  of  dollars  in  gold  coin  that  she  was  obliged 
to  pay  by  the  terms  of  the  award,  in  1872,  of  the 
Geneva  Tribunal.  The  plan  was  happily  con. 
ceived.  The  whole  business  was  most  creditable  to 
the  secretary,  yet  he  treated  it  as  a  simple  matter 
that  came  along  in  the  routine  of  work,  and  said 
nothing  about  it  until  ten  years  later,  when  he 
was  asked  to  write  out  a  narrative  of  the  transac 
tion  as  an  event  of  historic  interest. 

The  money,  which  would  weigh  twenty-eight 
and  a  half  tons  in  coin,  by  the  terms  of  the 
treat}^  had  to  be  paid  within  a  year  from  the 
third  of  September,  1872.  Naturally  the  expecta 
tion  of  moving  so  large  a  sum  from  London  to 
New  York  caused  anxiety  among  business  men 
and  bankers,  lest  a  financial  disturbance,  created 
thereby,  might  seriously  affect  and  disturb  ex 
change  and  business  relations  generally  between 
this  country  and  Europe.  To  effect  a  pay 
ment  quietly  and  almost  without  observation 


83 

was  a  task  peculiarly  congenial  to  Secretary 
Richardson.  He  adopted  and  successfully  put 
into  operation  the  following  ingenious  method  of 
transferring  this  extraordinarily  large  sum  without 
danger  and  without  disturbing  in  the  slightest 
degree  the  business  interests  of  the  two  countries. 

As  we  are  already  aware,  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment  at  this  period  was  engaged  in  the  business 
of  calling  in  for  redemption  the  six  per  cent, 
bonds  of  the  United  States,  and  paying  therefor 
with  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  five  per  cent, 
bonds  of  the  funded  loan  under  the  act  of  July 
4,  1870.  The  agency  instituted  at  London  for 
this  purpose  had  been  in  successful  operation, 
and  the  work  was  being  prosecuted  without  the 
least  difficulty  or  disturbance. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  availed  himself 
of  the  existence  of  this  office  in  London  to  effect 
the  payment  of  the  fifteen  and  a  half  millions  in 
gold  coin.  He  called  on  the  6th  of  June,  1873, 
for  the  redemption  of  twenty  millions  of  5-20  six 
per  cent,  bonds  of  the  loan  of  1862.  But  fifteen 
and  a  half  millions  of  this  were  required,  but 
experience  had  shown  that  a  certain  percentage 
of  the  amount  called  for  did  not  respond,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  holders  lacking  the  information, 
or  for  some  other  reason,  would  defer  action  until 
long  after  the  maturity  of  the  call. 

Nearly  all  the  coupon  bonds  of  this  loan  of 


84 

1862  were  held  in  Europe,  and  could  be  pur 
chased  in  the  London  market.  Accompanying 
the  issue  of  the  call  were  instructions,  which  were 
forwarded  to  the  Treasury  agents  in  London,  that 
if  parties  desired  to  deposit  at  the  agency  called 
bonds  or  matured  coupons  (practically  the  same 
as  coin)  to  the  credit  of  persons  in  the  United 
States,  to  be  applied  in  payment  of  money  pay 
able  to  the  United  States,  on  or  after  the  time  of 
the  maturity  of  the  call  of  that  date,  the  agents 
might  receive  such  bonds  or  coupons,  telegraph 
ing  from  time  to  time  the  amount  and  the  names 
of  the  parties  to  whose  credit  they  had  been 
deposited.  The  agents  were  then  to  cancel  and 
forward  to  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washing 
ton,  just  as  soon  as  possible,  such  bonds  and  cou 
pons  as  they  should  receive.  They  were  directed 
not  to  mingle  in  any  way  the  account  of  these 
bonds  and  coupons  with  the  receipt  of  those  in 
connection  with  their  funding  operations.  The 
amounts  payable  on  account  of  such  deposits  were 
to  be  accounted  for  and  settled  by  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States  at  Washington. 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  specific  instructions 
had  in  mind  the  receipt  and  cancellation  of  at 
least  fifteen  millions  and  a  half  of  bonds,  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  the  Geneva  award  money. 

At  the  same  time  the  parties  who  were  under 
stood  to  be  employed  by  the  British  government 


85 

to  make  this  transfer,  and  the  public  likewise, 
were  notified  of  these  instructions.  As  early  as 
June,  therefore,  certain  parties  began  to  buy 
called  bonds  and  matured  coupons,  and  turn 
them  over  to  the  United  States  Treasury  agents 
in  London.  Before  the  date  for  the  payment  of 
the  award,  these  parties  had  deposited  in  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States,  either  directly  or 
through  the  London  agency,  the  whole  fifteen 
and  a  half  million  dollars.  They  had  taken 
coin  certificates  in  different  sums  from  time  to 
time  as  they  made  the  deposits,  instead  of  draw 
ing  the  coin  from  the  Treasury  in  payment. 

All  these  certificates  were  returned  and  can 
celled  9  September,  1873,  and  one  coin  certificate 
for  the  full  amount  of  fifteen  and  a  half  million 
dollars  was  issued  to  the  depositors  and  made 
payable  to  their  order.  They  were  Drexel, 
Morgan  &  Company,  Morton,  Bliss  &  Company, 
and  Jay  Cooke  &  Company.  These  bankers  en 
dorsed  the  certificate  "to  the  joint  order  of  H. 
B.  M.  Minister,  or  Charge-d' Affaires  at  Washing 
ton,  and  Acting  Consul-General  at  New  York." 
These  officials,  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  then  min 
ister,  and  Mr.  Archibald,  consul-general,  endorsed 
the  certificate  to  the  order  of  Hamilton  Fish,  Sec 
retary  of  State.  Mr.  Fish  added  his  endorsement, 
"  Pay  to  the  order  of  Honorable  William  A.  Rich 
ardson,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury." 


86 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  upon  receiving 
this  certificate,  proceeded  to  carry  out  the  provis 
ions  of  the  act  of  3  March,  1873,  providing  that 
as  soon  as  the  money  should  be  paid  it  should  be 
used  to  redeem,  as  far  as  it  might,  the  public 
debt ;  for  the  amount  of  the  debt  so  redeemed, 
the  act  said,  should  be  invested  in  the  five  per 
cent,  registered  bonds  of  the  United  States,  to  be 
subject  to  the  future  disposition  of  Congress. 

Secretary  Richardson,  accordingly,  issued  to 
the  Secretary  of  State  one  five  per  cent,  registered 
bond  of  the  funded  loan,  for  fifteen  millions  and 
a  half  of  dollars.  Of  course,  there  was  no  en 
graved  bond  for  that  amount  that  could  be  used. 
In  order,  however,  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of 
the  act  in  harmony  with  the  issues  of  registered 
bonds  generally,  the  Secretary  had  a  special  de 
sign  made  of  a  bond,  elegantly  written,  with  suit 
able  ornamentation  and  border.  It  followed  the 
system  of  numbering  and  was  registered  as  Bond 
No.  1  of  that  denomination.* 

"  Thus  you  see,"  says  the  chief  justice,  writing  of  this  trans 
action  in  1882,  "  that  the  whole  business  was  done  without  the 
payment  of  actual  coin  into  the  Treasury.  The  bonds  and 
coupons  in  Europe  were  bought  up  with  money  paid  there, 
not  by  the  United  States  Government,  and  together  with 
those  deposited  here,  were  redeemed  without  the  payment  of 


*  Credit  for  this  fine  piece  of  work  is  due  to  Edwin  B.  MacGrotty,  a 
clerk  in  the  division  of  loans  and  currency,  who  was  an  expert  penman. 
Mr.  MacGrotty  to-day  (September,  1898)  is  in  the  division  of  book-keeping 
and  warrants  of  the  Treasury. 


87 

money,  but  by  the  issue  of  coin  certificates,  which  were  paid 
or  redeemed  in  a  bond  of  the  funded  loan. 

"  The  transaction  was  carried  on  so  gradually,  extending 
over  a  period  of  three  months,  that  its  effect  upon  exchange 
or  business  was  too  insignificant  to  attract  notice  of  any  kind, 
if  indeed  it  had  any  effect  whatever  one  way  or  the  other." 

The  panic  of  1873  will  long  be  remembered. 
Bankers  and  merchants  one  after  another  failed, 
and  the  business  of  the  country  received  a  shock 
from  which  it  took  years  to  recover.  The  crisis 
was  inevitable.  Corporations,  firms  and  indi 
viduals  had  gone  heavily  in  debt.  Speculation 
was  at  its  height.  Although  securities  of  almost 
every  description  enjoyed  a  high  nominal  value,  a 
protracted  course  of  over-trading  had  brought 
business  generally  into  a  condition  of  imminent 
peril.  The  crash  came.  A  season  of  fright 
ensued  when  all  eyes  were  turned  to  the  Presi 
dent  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Help 
was  implored  of  them.  Their  response  was 
just  what  it  should  have  been — a  calm,  judicious 
announcement,  based  upon  a  strict  adherence  to 
law.  The  events  of  that  momentous  period,  as 
may  well  be  imagined,  form  a  most  striking 
chapter  in  the  public  experiences  of  Secretary 
Richardson. 

On  Thursday,  18  September,  1873,  the  banking 
house  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Company,  of  Philadelphia, 
which  had  become  closely  identified  with  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  suddenly  suspended. 


Immediately  the  First  National  Bank  of  Wash 
ington  shut  its  doors,  and  other  financial  institu 
tions  intimately  connected  with  Jay  Cooke  & 
Company,  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  did 
the  like.  The  news  spread  like  wildfire,  and 
universal  disaster  was  threatened.  In  this  emer 
gency  the  weak  and  failing  bankers  and  business 
men  looked  for  aid  to  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States.  This  was  the  place  above  all  others  where 
they  never  should  have  looked,  for  the  Treasury 
had  its  full  share  of  burdens  to  preserve  the 
public  credit  in  the  general  crash.  But  the  sen 
timent  in  New  York  city  was  very  strong  that 
somehow  the  government  ought  to  come  to  the 
rescue.  Many  of  the  bankers  there  knew  Presi 
dent  Grant  personally,  and  some  of  them  were 
his  warm  friends. 

The  cry  was  that  the  Secretary  should  at  once 
issue  the  reserve,  and  by  this  means  ease  the 
money  market.  At  that  time  there  was  in  the 
Treasury  a  reserve  fund  of  forty-four  millions 
of  United  States  Treasury  notes,  or  "  greenbacks," 
as  they  were  popularly  called.  The  total  amount 
that  Congress  had  authorized  to  be  issued  was 
four  hundred  millions.  The  law  had  required  the 
Secretary  to  retire  this  amount  from  circulation 
gradually.  The  process  of  retiring  had  been 
entered  upon,  when  by  a  later  act  Congress  had 
stopped  it,  leaving  three  hundred  and  fifty-six 


89 

millions  in  circulation.  The  forty-four  millions 
difference,  received  and  cancelled  at  the  Treasury, 
was  the  subject  of  an  almost  endless  contention 
as  to  whether  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
had  the  authority  under  the  law  as  it  then 
stood  to  re-issue  it  or  any  part  of  it.  Secretary 
Boutwell  conceived  that  such  power  existed,  and 
Judge  Richardson  was  of  a  like  opinion.  The 
latter  while  assistant  secretary  had  furnished 
Senator  Conkling  of  New  York  with  a  paper  set 
ting  forth,  in  clear  and  cogent  terms,  the  argu 
ment  in  favor  of  the  power,  under  date  of  21 
January,  1873.* 

The  President,  naturally  sympathetic  and 
warm-hearted,  was  inclined  at  first  to  grant  what 
was  besought  of  him  by  those  whom  he  had 
been  taught  to  regard  as  sound  and  far-seeing  in 
matters  of  finance.  At  that  particular  time  the 
President  was  taking  a  vacation  at  Long  Branch, 
not  far  from  New  York  city.  The  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  had  remained  at  his  post  in  Wash 
ington.  Meanwhile  as  the  news  of  successive 
failures  came  over  the  wires,  the  excitement  in 
creased  in  volume,  and  more  and  more  urgent 
grew  the  appeal  for  help  from  the  public  funds. 

The  Secretary  knew  well  enough  that  even  if 
he  had  an  undisputed  power  to  issue  at  once  the 

*  A  financial  journal  in  New  York  city,  that  gave  Secretary  Richard 
son  advice  as  to  the  management  of  the  Treasury,  spoke  of  him  as  "the 
expositor  of  inflation." 


00 

entire  reserve,  it  would  be  only  adding  fuel  to 
the  flames,  while  crippling  the  Department,  and 
bringing  it  to  actual  repudiation  ;  since  a  halt 
would  have  to  be  called  after  a  while  in  pa}?ing 
the  indebtedness  of  the  government,  as  soon  as 
the  reserve  should  have  been  exhausted.  The 
debts  coming  in  for  payment  would  inevitably 
exceed  the  revenue  to  be  depended  on  for  meet 
ing  the  public  obligations. 

We  may  pause  here  for  a  moment  to  view  the 
condition  of  the  national  finances  as  respects  the 
means  at  hand  to  sustain  the  public  credit. 

When  Secretary  Richardson  came  into  office 
(March,  1873,)  the  reserve  of  forty -four  millions 
in  greenbacks  had  been  drawn  upon  to  the  extent 
of  two  millions,  or  more.  The  first  thing  he  did 
was  to  "take  in  sail  and  strengthen  the  reserve."* 
By  so  doing,  he  had  succeeded  at  the  time  the 
panic  came  upon  the  country  in  accumulating 
about  fifteen  millions  of  dollars. 

The  situation  abroad  with  reference  to  United 
States  securities  should  also  be  borne  in  mind. 

*The  reason  for  this  precaution  lay  in  the  condition  of  our  imports. 
For  some  years  they  had  exceeded  the  value  of  our  exports  by  several 
millions  of  dollars.  Plainly  the  country  was  getting  into  debt,  and  to  all 
debtors  there  must  come  a  time  of  settlement  and  payment  or  a  failure. 
One  or  the  other,  so  reasoned  the  Secretary,  is  always  inevitable.  When 
the  bureau  of  statistics  had  completed  their  tables  for  the  year  ending  30 
June,  1873,  Judge  Richardson  took  the  figures  to  President  Grant  and 
pointed  out  to  him  the  impending  danger.  He  explained  to  the  President 
the  plan  upon  which  he  was  acting  in  order  to  strengthen  the  Treasury 
by  accumulations  of  money.  As  to  this  the  President  and  Secretary  were 
in  entire  accord. 


91 

The  Department,  as  we  know,  had  a  force  of  clerks 
in  London  engaged  in  carrying  on  the  business 
of  buying  and  selling  bonds.  Had  it  been  tele 
graphed  to  London  that  the  Treasury,  unable  to 
meet  the  ordinary  obligations  of  the  government, 
had  stopped  payment,  there  would  have  been  a 
panic  in  London  in  United  States  bonds  and  the 
credit  of  the  government  would  have  suffered. 
It  was  due  to  the  prudent  management  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  there  was  not  the 
least  sign  of  excitement  in  London,  and  that  our 
bonds  maintained  their  former  price,  the  credit  of 
the  government  being  in  no  wise  impaired. 

It  seems  that  the  pressure  was  great  on  both 
sides  of  the  question  of  issuing  the  reserve.  On 
one  side,  the  administration  was  beset  not  to  issue 
any  more  greenbacks,  and  to  stop  payment  if 
necessary.  On  the  other  side,  there  were  frantic 
calls  for  the  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  to  put  forth  the  whole  reserve.  Both  of  these 
demands,  Secretary  Richardson  resisted,  and  was 
sustained  therein  by  the  President,  though  (it 
must  be  added)  not  without  great  efforts  and 
much  argument  on  the  part  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.* 

*  The  following  incident  illustrates  the  courage  of  Secretary  Richard 
son,  and  the  good  sense  of  General  Grant.  Upon  one  occasion  the  Presi 
dent  telegraphed  the  Secretary  from  Long  Branch  to  issue  a  large  quantity 
of  the  reserve,  and  buy  bonds  and  give  notes  the  next  morning,  he  himself 
starting  for  Washington  that  night.  On  arriving  the  next  morning  the 
President  found  that  his  Secretary  had  not  obeyed  the  order.  Going  at 


92 

On  Saturday,  20  September,  the  President  tel 
egraphed  to  Secretary  Richardson  from  Long- 
Branch,  to  meet  him  the  next  morning  in  New 
York  city  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel.  The  Sec 
retary  himself,  at  the  office  of  the  telegraph  com 
pany  in  Washington,  on  Friday  night  at  half 
past  eleven  o'clock,  had  written  and  sent  a  tele 
gram  to  the  sub-treasurer  at  New  York,  author 
izing  him  to  purchase  $10,000,000  of  bonds  on 
Saturday.  Arriving  in  New  York  early  Sunday 
morning,  the  Secretary  drove  to  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Hotel.  Before  taking  breakfast,  he  went  to  the 
President's  room  and  spent  an  hour  with  him, 
going  over  the  situation,  and  pointing  out  the 
position  of  the  department. 

He  took  the  ground  that  the  Treasury  must  be 
kept  strong  for  the  sake  of  its  own  credit,  and  so  as 
to  be  able  to  afford  relief  to  the  country  after  the 
panic  was  over;  that  a  decision  must  be  had  at 
what  amount  to  limit  the  bond  purchase;  that, 
with  the  concurrence  of  the  President,  he  would 
limit  the  amount  to  $12,000,000,  and  stop  there. 
Should  all  the  banks  suspend  by  agreement,  then 

once  to  the  White  House,  the  Secretary  explained  the  necessity  of  keeping 
the  Treasury  strong  and  out  of  the  whirlpool.  A  few  words  sufficed  to 
explain  why  the  order  had  not  been  obeyed.  The  President  expressed 
his  entire  satisfaction  that  the  Secretary  had  acted  as  he  did. 

Indeed,  it  may  be  said  here  that  throughout  his  term  of  office  Secretary 
Richardson  enjoyed  the  fullest  confidence  of  the  President,  who  did  noth 
ing  contrary  to  his  advice.  President  Grant  once  said  to  Secretary  Morrill, 
who  at  a  later  date  had  taken  the  Treasury,  that  he  (the  President)  had 
never  made  a  mistake  when  he  had  followed  the  advice  of  Secretary 
Richardson. 


93 

he  would  at  once  stop  purchasing.  He  assured 
the  President  that  it  was  their  duty  at  all  hazards 
to  keep  the  department  out  of  the  panic.  He 
pointed  out  the  condition  of  affairs  in  London, 
and  the  effect  upon  our  bonds  should  it  become 
known  there  that  the  department  was  in  any 
way  unable  to  meet  its  obligations  by  reason  of 
having  expended  its  store  of  ready  money.  The 
reader  must  know  that  in  1873,  the  prospect  of  an 
ultimate  payment  of  the  national  debt  was  not 
at  all  what  it  now  is.  There  were  very  many 
persons,  both  in  the  United  States  and  in  Europe, 
who  believed  that  in  the  end  our  bonds  would 
not  be  paid.  These  and  similar  perils  the  Secre 
tary  pointed  out  to  the  President,  who  quickly 
grasped  the  situation. 

Arrangements  had  been  made  for  the  interview 
with  the  President  on  the  part  of  the  bankers  and 
business  men.  Ten  o'clock  was  fixed  upon  as  the 
hour.  They  had  come  to  the  hotel  in  great  num 
bers.  It  was  Sunday,  but  the  hotel  was  crowded, 
and  so  were  the  streets  in  the  neighborhood.  A 
prominent  republican  senator,  one  of  the  foremost 
statesmen  of  the  country,  was  there,  as  a  guest 
of  the  hotel,  and  to  judge  from  competent  testi 
mony  he  was  the  most  frightened  man  on  the 
premises.  He  seemed  to  be  bewildered,  and 
really  knew  not  what  to  do. 

Reverdy  Johnson  was  also  present,  consulted 


94 

by  the  bankers,  whom  he  furnished  with  a  legal 
opinion,  taking  the  curious  ground  that  under 
the  law,  the  President  and  Secretary  had  no 
power  to  issue  the  greenbacks,  but  that  if  he 
were  in  the  President's  place,  he  would  feel  it  his 
duty  to  issue  them;  and  that  in  his  opinion  the 
country  would  sustain  the  President  in  so  doing.* 

At  the  appointed  hour,  the  President  and  the 
Secretary  took  their  seats  at  a  table  in  one  of  the 
large  parlors,  and  the  bankers,  with  others,  came 
in.  Among  those  present  were  Commodore  Van- 
derbilt,  Henry  Clews,  the  Seligmans,  George  P. 
Opdycke,  Isaac  H.  Bailey,  William  Orton  of  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  William  L. 
Scott,  Robert  Lenox  Kennedy,  H.  B.  Claflin  and 
Mr.  Vail,  of  the  Bank  of  Commerce. 

The  excitement  ran  high.     Many  speeches  were 

*"  The  President  without  doubt  is  without  legal  power  to  issue  any 
portion  of  the  forty  million  reserve.  He  says  as  much  as  that  himself; 
and  on  meeting  me  in  the  corridor  asked  my  opinion  about  it.  I  told 
him  there  was  no  legal  warranty,  but  if  I  were  in  his  place  and  deemed 
that  the  exigency  demanded  such  a  measure,  I  would  surely  order  it. 
This  has  become  a  national  calamity.  To-morrow,  unless  relief  is  given, 
all  the  city  banks  will  suspend.  The  result  would  be  a  general  suspen 
sion  throughout  the  country,  and  a  prostration  unequalled  even  by  the 
catastrophe  of  1857.  The  President  coincided  with  me,  and  I  am  to  write 
him  a  letter  on  this  subject  at  five  o'clock."  Reported  interview  imth  Rev- 
erdy  Johnson— New  York  Tribune,  22  September,  1873. 

It  also  appears  that  he  advised  that  the  sub-Treasury  law  had  been 
repealed,  though  it  is  not  clear  what  use  could  be  made  of  that  fact.  The 
bankruptcy  law  had  attached  to  it  a  schedule  of  repealed  acts  and  amongst 
them  was  the  sub-Treasury  act  as  well  as  other  important  acts.  This  was 
a  mistake  clearly  arising  from  an  intention  to  repeal  some  parts  of  that 
act,  and  had  always  so  been  regarded.  From  a  memorandum  of  Chief  Jus 
tice  Richardson. 


95 

made,  some  of  them  almost  violent  in  tone,  call 
ing  upon  the  President  at  once  to  issue  the 
whole  forty-four  millions  reserve.  The  speakers 
said  if  the  panic  were  not  stopped,  we  should  see 
the  worst  mob  in  New  York  the  next  day  that 
had  ever  been  known  in  that  city ;  that  already 
the  streets  were  full  of  men,  and  in  the  morning 
the  situation  would  be  worse. 

It  seemed  to  have  occurred  to  no  one  to  point 
out  how  the  reserve  could  be  issued,  or  to  desig 
nate  the  manner  in  which  it  could  be  put  into 
circulation.  The  President  sat  perfectly  calm. 
At  last  he  said  that  anything  to  be  submitted  to 
him  must  be  in  writing,  so  that  he  could  know 
exactly  what  they  thought  should  be  done. 

The  result  of  the  interview  was  that  a  com 
mittee  was  formed,  who  retired  for  delibera 
tion.  An  hour  or  two  later,  they  had  agreed  to 
request  that  the  Treasury  Department  would  lend 
$20,000,000  to  the  banks,  upon  the  receipt  of 
clearing-house  certificates,  with  a  promise  of  more 
money,  if  necessary.  This  proposition  was  sub 
mitted  in  a  writing,  signed  by  firms  and  indi 
viduals,  representing  a  large  amount  of  money. 

As  affording  an  insight  into  the  purposes  of  this 
historic  interview,  it  may  be  helpful  to  append 
the  text  of  this  application  to  President  Grant. 
It  bore  date  "  New  York,  September  21st,  1872," 
and  read  as  follows  : 


96 

The  undersigned  do  respectfully  represent  to  the  President 
that,  in  the  present  situation  of  affairs,  a  financial  deadlock 
will  inevitably  occur  to-morrow  unless  relief  be  afforded  by 
the  government. 

They  respectfully  suggest  that  no  measure  of  relief  will  be 
adequate  that  does  not  place  at  the  service  of  the  city  banks, 
twenty  millions  in  greenbacks. 

They  respectfully  petition  the  President  to  authorize  the 
Assistant  Treasurer  to  receive  from  the  city  bunks,  clearing 
house  certificates,  secured  by  ample  collaterals  and  for  which 
certificates  all  the  city  banks  are  jointly  and  severally  respon 
sible,  and  to  issue  to  the  banks  in  exchange  therefor,  green 
backs  to  the  extent  if  necessary  of  twenty  millions  on  such 
terms  as  to  issue  and  redemption  as  may  be  satisfactory  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

The  undersigned  deprecate  any  intention  of  soliciting  a 
violation  of  the  law.  They  believe  that  the  above  measure  of 
relief  is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  existing  statutes 
and  they  are  quite  satisfied  that  it  is  indispensable  to  avert  a 
crisis  which  would  wreck  the  country  to  its  centre. 

The  undersigned  are  firmly  persuaded  that  this  action 
on  the  part  of  the  government  would  restore  confidence 
immediately. 

H.  B.  CLAFLIN  &  Co.  PEAKE,  OPDYCKE  &  Co. 

ANTHONY  &  HALL.  FRED  BUTTERFIELD  &  Co. 

HOYT,  SPRAGUK  &  Co.  P.  VANVOLKENBURGH  &  Co. 

WHITTEMOKE,PEET,POST&CO.  J.  M.  BUNDY,  "  Evening  Mail.'' 
PAYNE,  GOODWIN  &  Co.  WM.  L.   SCOTT,  Prest.  2  Nat., 

GEO.  CECIL  &  Co.,  Logansport,      Erie,  Pa. 

Indiana.  GOODWIN  &  Co. 

D.  &  A.  KINGSLAND  &  BUTTON.  A.  BOODY,  Prest. 
GEO.  W.  PERKINS,  Cashier. 
HARPER  &  BROS.,  Franklin  Square.          S.  L.  B. 

Fifty  additional  firms  of  the  highest  standing  in  the  mer 
cantile  community  were  here  and  agreed  to  sign  this  paper, 
but  so  much  delay  was  made  in  preparation  that  they  have 
dispersed.  Petitions  have  been  sent  to  them  to  sign  and  ten 
thousand  names  can  easily  be  obtained  for  signature. 


97 

Of  course,  as  every  one  now  perceives,  there 
could  have  been  but  one  reply  given  to  such  a 
request.  The  President  could  act  only  within  the 
law ;  and  there  was  absolutely  no  law  that  by 
any  stretch  of  construction  could  be  held  to  have 
converted  the  Treasury  Department  into  a  loan 
institution.*  Such  was  the  answer. 

Several  years  after  this  occurrence  the  chief 
justice  wrote  out,  somewhat  hurriedly,  a  few  notes 
of  what  had  taken  place,  meaning  to  revise  them 
at  his  leisure;  but  that  leisure  seems  never  to 
have  arrived.  These  notes  have  been  freely  used 
by  the  present  writer.  What  follows,  however, 
is  ex-Secretary  Richardson's  own  language.  The 
incident  related  has  never  before  been  made  pub- 


*  Secretary  Fish,  writing  from  his  country  place,  Garrison's,  Putnam 
County,  New  York,  under  date  of  22  September,  1873,  to  Secretary 
Richardson,  says : 

"  I  congratulate  you,  for  I  believe  that  the  decision  of  Sunday  will 
prove  a  step  in  the  resumption  of  specie  payments,  which,  I  think,  should 
be  the  object  and  the  great  financial  feature  of  General  Grant's  second 
term,  as  the  reduction  of  the  debt  was  of  the  first.  *  *  *  I  hope  that  it 
may  be  your  lot  to  accomplish  the  restoration  in  value  of  the  promises  of 
the  government  with  gold.  You  have  a  nation's  thanks." 

Writing  to  him  again,  on  the  26th  of  the  same  month,  Mr.  Fish 
remarks : 

"  *  *  *  I  assure  you  that  nothing  that  the  President  has  ever  done 
seems  to  give  more  satisfaction  than  the  decision  which  you  and  he 
reached  on  Sunday  last.  I  hear  from  everyone,  except  those  interested 
in  speculative  stocks  or  bonds,  one  universal  approval  of  the  'heroic 
action  of  the  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,'  and  but  one 
expression  of  hope  that  you  will  adhere  to  the  policy  of  non-expansion. 
It  may  be  a  severe  remedy,  but  severe  cases  require  severe  remedies. 
*  *  *  I  agree  with  Henry  Wilson  in  urging  you  to  stand  like  a  rock. 

' '  Hoping  to  see  you  on  Tuesday  and  in  the  meantime  ready  to  do  what 
I  can  to  aid  and  sustain  your  act,  I  am,  very  faithfully  yours." 


lie;  and    it  therefore   seems   allowable   to  print 
the  roughly  drafted  outline  as  it  stands. 

Before  their  departure,  the  leading  speakers  had  urged  that 
the  President  and  Secretary  should  go  into  Wall  street  the 
next  morning,  and  be  at  the  office  of  the  Sub-Treasury,  ready 
to  do  whatever  was  necessary.  They  stated  that  we  should 
find  the  street  crowded  and  the  excitement  intense.  To  this 
the  President  at  once  assented,  without  much  consideration, 
but  desiring  to  do  all  that  was  possible  for  the  unfortunate 
men  who  were  involved  in  the  impending  ruin.  We  had 
agreed  to  dine  that  evening  at  the  Union  Club  where  a  large 
number  of  gentlemen  were  to  be  assembled. 

When  the  room  was  cleared,  I  locked  the  door  to  keep  out 
intruders,  and  with  President  Grant  all  alone,  I  said  to  him, 
substantially : 

"  Mr.  President,  the  first  thing  now  for  us  to  determine  is 
where  we  shall  be  to-morrow." 

"  Oh,"  said  he,  "  I  agreed  that  we  would  be  at  the  Sub- 
Treasury  in  Wall  street  to-morrow  to  take  such  action  as 
might  seem  necessary." 

To  this  I  replied — "  That  is  just  the  place  where  we  ought 
not  to  be,  according  to  my  view.  The  District  of  Columbia  is 
made  by  the  Constitution  the  seat  of  government,  and  the 
statute  provides  that  all  offices  attached  to  the  seat  of  govern 
ment  shall  be  exercised  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  In  times 
of  local  excitement  there  is  the  place  for  public  officers  to  be, 
away  from  the  influence  of  frenzied  people,  and  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  mob. 

"  This  panic  was  not  brought  on  by  anything  done  by  the 
officers  of  the  government,  and  nothing  they  can  do  will  stop 
it.  The  merchants  and  business  men  of  New  York  have 
caused  the  whole  trouble;  they  have  speculated,  got  over 
whelmingly  in  debt,  and  are  in  deep  water  to  which  there  is 
no  bottom  for  them.  The  banks  have  all  been  encouraging 
them  in  their  wild  career  and  the  bubble  has  burst.  The 
banks  have  gotten  them  into  this  difficulty,  for  without  the 


99 

banks  they  could  not  have  borrowed  much  money,  and  the 
banks  alone  can  furnish  the  only  relief  to  be  attained.  This 
is  a  case  for  action  on  the  part  of  the  banks  and  must  be  left 
to  them  to  take  care  of. 

"All  we  can  do  is  to  preserve  the  credit  of  the  government 
by  keeping  its  finances  out  of  the  panic.  This  can  be  justi 
fied  before  the  people,  and  no  other  course  ever  can  be. 
Besides,  while  the  country  everywhere  is  affected  somewhat 
by  this  panic,  there  is  no  excitement  except  here  in  New 
York.  The  people  of  the  West  and  elsewhere  are  calm  and 
collected,  and  are  looking  to  this  city  for  every  kind  of 
demonstration.  If  there  is  to  be  a  mob,  here  it  will  be,  and 
the  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should  be  as  far 
away  from  it  as  possible. 

"  What  will  the  people  outside  of  New  York  think  and  say 
if  it  be  reported  in  newspapers  to-morrow  that  the  President 
and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  are  in  the  midst  of  the  mob  in 
Wall  street,  at  the  Sub-Treasury,  watching  and  awaiting 
results. 

"  Moreover,  just  as  long  as  these  men  look  to  the  United 
States  Treasury  for  help,  just  so  long  they  will  do  nothing  to 
help  themselves.  They  will  hope  and  expect  the  Treasury 
to  do  everything  for  them,  and  it  can  do  nothing  whatever. 
The  very  fact  of  your  being  in  Wall  street  will  attract  the 
crowd,  and  add  to  the  chances  of  a  mob  ;  and  the  rest  of  the 
country  will  behold  with  amazement  that  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  have  left  Washington  and  have,  as 
they  will  think,  joined  hands  with  the  money  power  of  Wall 
street,  of  which  the  people  are  all  jealous. 

"  My  opinion  is  that  our  place  in  a  condition  like  this  is 
in  Washington,  aloof  from  excitement  and  where  we  can  take 
a  broader  and  cooler  view  of  the  situation.  That  is  the  place 
which  the  wise  framers  of  the  Constitution  intended  should 
be  the  quiet  abiding  place  of  public  officers  in  times  of  local 
troubles ;  and  if  the  public  find  we  are  there,  they  will  feel 
great  confidence  and  entire  safety  in  the  situation.  If  we  are 
op  Wall  street,  they  will  be  filled  with  apprehension  and  fear 


100 

at  what  may  happen.  In  my  opinion  we  ought  to  go  to 
Washington  to-night  and  keep  away  from  Wall  street  and 
this  excitement." 

The  President  was  convinced  and  agreed  at  once  to  my 
suggestion. 

I  unlocked  the  door,  the  President  called  Babcock  (his 
private  secretary)  and  told  him  the  change  in  program  that 
we  had  agreed  upon,  but  charged  him  not  to  tell  of  it  until 
after  the  great  dinner  that  evening.  Finally  it  was  arranged 
that  Babcock  should  have  carriages  at  the  Union  Club  house, 
and  the  President  and  I  should  slip  out  from  the  dinner 
separately,  so  as  not  to  be  observed  and  go  directly  to  Wash 
ington.  This  plan  was  carried  out,  and  the  next  morning  we 
were  at  our  posts  at  the  seat  of  government. 

Before  the  morning  papers  went  to  press  our  movements 
were  known,  and  our  whereabouts  was  announced  in  the 
first  edition,  and  all  New  York  knew  in  the  early  morning 
where  we  were.  The  result  was  that  there  was  no  further 
excitement,  Wall  street  was  as  quiet  as  Sunday  and  no  crowds 
filled  the  streets  anywhere.  The  Tribune  announced  in  large 
letters,  "  The  panic  over,"  and  President  Grant  returned  to 
Long  Branch. 

No  intelligent  student  of  our  political  history 
will  now  be  found  to  question  the  wisdom  of  the 
Secretary's  advice.  Of  the  good  sense  exhibited 
by  General  Grant  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  pre 
cisely  what  would  have  been  expected  of  him  in 
the  circumstances. 

The  firm  stand  taken  by  the  President  and 
his  Secretary  worked  an  immediate  result.  The 
banks,  finding  that  the  government  declined  to 
identify  itself  with  the  panic,  and  resort  to  strange 
and  unheard  of  measures  in  an  effort  to  restore 


101 

confidence,  took  the  only  practical  course  open 
to  them.  They  issued  clearing-house  certificates, 
and  so  contributed  largely  to  allay  excitement, 
and  bring  around  again  a  normal  state  of  the 
money  market.  While  the  panic  was  not  entirely 
over,  for  it  was  temporarily  renewed,  the  Treasury 
Department  kept  at  its  legitimate  business  and 
bought  such  bonds  as  were  offered — the  only 
lawful  method  of  taking  money  from  its  vaults 
and  putting  it  into  circulation. 

On  24  September,  the  Secretary  at  Washington 
telegraphed  to  the  President  at  Long  Branch  as 
follows : 

If  the  panic  continues  unabated  to-day,  we  must  decide 
at  what  amount  to  limit  bond  purchases.  The  Treasury  must 
be  kept  strong  for  the  sake  of  its  own  credit,  and  to  afford 
relief  to  the  country  after  the  panic  is  over.  If  you  concur, 
I  would  limit  the  amount  to  about  twelve  millions  and  stop 
there ;  and  if  all  the  banks  suspend  by  agreement,  I  would 
stop  at  once.  I  don't  think  it  is  well  to  undertake  to  furnish 
from  the  Treasury  all  the  money  that  frenzied  people  may 
call  for. 

As  might  be  expected,  President  Grant  ap 
proved  of  this  sensible  view ;  and  Secretary 
Richardson  pursued  calmly  his  accustomed  path, 
and  thus  "  kept  the  Treasury  Department  out  of 
the  panic." 

The  requests,  amounting  almost  to  importu 
nities  upon  the  Secretary,  to  do  something  out  of 
the  usual  course,  with  a  view  to  relieving  the 


102 

strain  upon  the  money  market,  were  however 
kept  up,  notwithstanding  the  plain  language  of 
the  reply  already  given.  The  president  of  the 
New  York  Produce  Exchange,  under  date  30 
September,  1873,  urged  a  plan  divided  into  two 
heads  :  First,  that  currency  be  immediately  issued 
to  banks  or  bankers  upon  satisfactory  evidence 
that  gold  had  been  placed  upon  special  deposit  in 
the  Bank  of  England  in  London,  upon  the  credit 
of  their  correspondent  there,  to  be  used  wholly  for 
the  purchase  of  bills  of  exchange.  Second,  that 
the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury  are  respectfully  requested 
to  order  the  immediate  prepayment  of  the  out 
standing  loan  of  the  United  States,  due  January 
1,  1874. 

That  such  a  proposition  as  the  first  request 
should  be  considered  possible  to  be  entertained 
by  the  President  seems  at  this  length  of  time 
strange  indeed.  A  prompt  answer  was  re 
turned  that  to  embark  in  such  a  scheme 
would  involve  the  government  in  the  business 
of  importing  and  speculating  in  gold.  It  was 
entirely  out  of  the  question  ;  nor  was  it  possible 
under  the  law  to  comply  with  the  second  request. 

Through  all  these  trying,  hours  the  President, 
in  a  manner  most  creditable  to  him,  upheld  the 
hands  of  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The 
country  was  fortunate  in  having  these  two  men 


103 

at  the  head  of  affairs,  for  had  a  mis-step  been 
taken  it  is  fearful  to  contemplate  how  disastrous 
a  wreck  would  have  been  made  of  the  credit  of 
the  government.  As  it  was,  the  firm  conduct  of 
the  administration  added  a  chapter  to  our  public 
financial  history  that  can  always  be  regarded 
with  a  just  pride  by  the  American  people. 

The  annual  report  to  Congress  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  1  December,  1873,  is  a  business 
like  document,  that  bears  the  impress  of  having 
been  written  by  a  practical  man  of  affairs.  Each 
important  topic  in  turn  is  treated  with  good  sense, 
the  facts  clearly  stated,  and  the  course  of  admin 
istration  set  forth  in  concise  terms.  Let  any  one 
to-day  read  this  state  paper  with  deliberation 
and  he  will  be  forward  to  acknowledge  that  the 
author  approves  himself  equal  to  the  discharge  of 
the  great  trust  committed  to  his  keeping.  There 
are  exhibited  here  a  broad  and  comprehensive 
grasp  of  public  questions,  sound  reasoning  and 
a  conception  of  duty  adequate  to  the  situation. 
The  report  when  critically  examined  distinctly 
enhances  Secretary  Richardson's  reputation. 

While  he  was  assistant  secretary,  it  may  be 
noted  that  Judge  Richardson,  busy  as  he  was, 
found  time  to  prepare  and  publish  a  book  of 
special  value  to  all  persons  interested  in  a  busi 
ness  way  in  the  public  loan.  It  was  entitled 
"  Practical  Information  concerning  the  Public 


104 

Debt  of  the  United  States,  with  the  National 
Banking  Laws  for  Banks,  Bankers,  Brokers,  Bank 
Directors  and  Investors."  Though  professing  to 
be  nothing  else  than  a  compendium  of  the  stat 
utes  upon  the  subject,  it  really  contained  not  a 
little  original  matter  in  elucidation  of  the  law. 
The  volume  made  a  timely  appearance.  Its  chief 
excellence  consisted  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
various  provisions  of  the  statute  law,  and  the 
means  afforded,  including  an  index,  for  speedy 
reference.  It  was  designed  to  be  a  "  handy  book." 
Possibly  its  use  by  bankers  in  Europe  was  not 
left  out  of  contemplation,  the  subject  then  (1872) 
being  of  extraordinary  interest  abroad  as  well  as 
at  home.  A  second  edition  of  this  useful  publi 
cation  was  issued  in  1873,  when  the  author  had 
become  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

During  his  term  of  office  at  the  head  of  the 
Treasury,  Secretary  Richardson  received  a  flatter 
ing  offer  to  become  a  member  of  a  great  banking 
house  in  London.  The  offer,  though  tempting 
from  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  he  did  not  care 
to  accept.  An  opportunity  presenting  itself, 
however,  for  his  going  upon  the  bench  of  a 
United  States  Court  for  life,  he  resigned  the  office 
of  Secretary  and  was  made  a  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Claims.  His  name  for  the  new  position  went 
to  the  Senate  on  the  same  day  with  that  of  Ben 
jamin  H.  Bristow,  of  Kentucky,  as  his  successor 


105 

in  the  Treasury.  Both  nominations  were  speedily 
confirmed  by  the  Senate,  4  June,  1874. 

The  Court  of  Claims,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  a 
tribunal  in  which  claims  against  the  United  States 
may  be  submitted  to  the  decision  of  judges.  It 
was  established  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  25  Feb 
ruary,  1855,  which  provided  for  the  appointment 
of  three  judges,  tp  hold  their  offices  during  good 
behavior.*  The  jurisdiction  of  the  court  is  con 
fined  to  alleged  obligations  growing  out  of  con 
tracts.  It  does  not  deal  with  torts,  except  where 
Congress  by  special  act  refers  a  matter  such,  for 
example,  as  a  collision  in  which  a  public  vessel 
is  charged  as  having  been  in  fault,  to  the  deter 
mination  of  the  court. 

The  United  States  admits  its  liability  to  be 
sued,  and  prescribes  how  this  shall  be  done.  The 
Court  of  Claims  has  no  jury,  the  court  being 
judges  of  the  fact  as  well  as  of  law.  As  originally 
designed,  the  tribunal  amounted  to  little  more 
than  a  special  committee  of  Congress;  for  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  court  to  report  to  Congress,  at 
the  commencement  of  each  session,  and  at  the 
commencement  of  each  month  of  the  session,  all 
cases  upon  which  they  had  finally  acted,  together 

*  Judge  Richardson  contributed  to  the  March,  1882,  number  of  the 
Southern  Law  Review  an  interesting  article  describing  the  origin  and 
growth  of  the  court.  This  he  expanded  three  years  afterward  into  a 
pamphlet,  entitled  "  History,  Jurisdiction  and  Practice  of  the  Court  of 
Claims,"  a  valuable  piece  of  work,  the  source  of  much  that  the  writer 
here  presents,  in  relation  to  the  subject. 


106 

with  the  material  facts  and  their  opinion,  with 
the  reasons  of  the  opinion.  The  court  also  was 
required  to  prepare  a  bill  in  cases  which  received 
their  favorable  decision. 

These  requirements  were  the  cause  of  so  many 
delays  that  Congress  later  radically  changed 
the  organic  act  creating  the  court.  By  statute, 
3  March,  1863,  two  judges  were  added,  and 
an  appeal  given  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  The  judgments  of  the  court  were 
to  be  paid  out  of  any  appropriation  made  for  the 
payment  of  private  claims.  This  desirable  change 
had  the  effect  to  add  to  the  importance  of  the  court; 
and  since  that  period  it  has  dealt  with  a  volume 
of  business  that  year  by  year  exhibits  a  steady 
increase. 

At  the  time  Judge  Richardson  took  his  seat 
upon  the  bench,  Charles  D.  Drake,  of  Missouri, 
was  chief  justice;  and  Edward  G.  Loring,  of 
Massachusetts,  Ebenezer  Peck,  of  Illinois,  and 
Charles  C.  Nott,*  of  New  York,  were  the  other 
members  of  the  court. 


*  During  Richardson's  occupancy  of  this  bench  his  associates  other 
than  those  named  in  the  text  have  been  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  of  New 
York  (Harvard,  1840),  1877-1881  and  1882-1883 ;  William  H.  Hunt,  of  Lou 
isiana,  1878-1881 ;  Glcnni  W.  Schofield,  of  Pennsylvania,  1881-1891 ;  Law 
rence  Weldon,  of  Illinois,  1883—;  John  Davis,  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
1885—;  Stanton  J.  Peelle,  1892—. 

Upon  the  death  of  Chief  Justice  Richardson,  Judge  Nott  was  nomi 
nated  and  confirmed  as  chief  justice  of  the  court.  The  vacancy  thus 
created  in  the  number  of  judges  was  filled  by  the  appointment  of  the 
Honorable  Charles  B.  Howry,  of  Mississippi. 


107 

The  court  sat  in  rooms  at  the  Capitol.  In 
1879,  the  space  thus  occupied  being  needed  by 
Congress,  the  court  was  provided  with  larger  and 
more  convenient  rooms  in  the  building  known 
as  the  Department  of  Justice,  opposite  to  the 
north  front  of  the  Treasury,  where  it  has  ever 
since  held  its  sessions. 

From  time  to  time  Congress  has  committed  to 
this  tribunal  certain  subjects  of  controversy  other 
than  those  falling  within  the  strict  language  of 
the  original  act.  One  branch  of  jurisdiction,  for 
example,  involving  a  great  many  cases,  and  de 
volving  an  immense  amount  of  labor  upon  the 
judges,  is  that  of  the  French  Spoliation  Claims. 
The  bar  of  the  court  is  composed  for  the  most 
part  of  lawyers  resident  at  Washington ;  but  cases 
of  importance  bring  from  time  to  time  prominent 
lawyers  of  other  cities  before  the  court  as  of  coun 
sel  for  claimants. 

A  special  assistant  attorney  general  is  charged 
with  the  duty  of  defending  the  United  States  in 
suits  prosecuted  in  the  Court  of  Claims.  This 
official  has  assistants  to  aid  him,  who  are  also 
law  officers  of  the  government.  While  many 
cases  involve  questions  of  fact  only,  and  others 
bring  forward  points  of  law  of  no  general  interest, 
it  may  be  remarked  that  a  great  majority  of  the 
contested  cases  present  features  that  are  highly 
interesting,  both  in  respect  of  the  facts  and  the 


108 

principles  of  law  involved.  Occasionally,  a  law 
question  of  very  great  importance  comes  on  for 
argument. 

A  judge  of  this  court,  therefore,  is  not  infre 
quently  called  upon  to  exercise  the  best  powers 
of  his  mind  in  solving  legal  problems.  While 
its  business  in  the  main  lacks  somewhat  of  that 
variety  in  subject  matter  and  principles  of  law 
which  abounds  in  common  law  courts,  it  yet  em 
braces  subjects  of  inquiry  that  are  calculated  to 
improve  and  strengthen  the  mind  of  the  judges 
who  deal  with  them.  Sometimes  a  test  case  arises 
of  novel  impression,  that  is  not  only  difficult  of 
determination,  but  is  highly  important  as  govern 
ing  the  disposition  of  very  large  sums  of  money. 

The  new  judge  had  reached  fifty-two  years  of 
age  when  he  took  a  seat  upon  the  bench,  destined 
to  be  for  twenty-two  years  the  scene  of  his  con 
tinuous  labor,  and  of  his  most  pronounced  intel 
lectual  triumphs.  Here  was  his  true  sphere  of 
action.  If  there  can  ever  be  an  instance  where  a 
man  of  conceded  ability  and  of  unlimited  capacity 
for  work  has  found  at  last,  after  a  varied  experi 
ence,  the  one  station  exactly  suited  alike  to  his 
powers  and  his  taste,  surely  the  elevation  of  Judge 
Richardson  to  the  bench  of  the  Court  of  Claims 
furnishes  that  instance.  The  judicial  gift  that 
was  his  by  nature  he  had  made  the  most  of  in 
early  manhood — and  his  strength  undoubtedly 


109 

lay  in  achievements  of  that  character.  With  a 
mind  developed  by  a  course  of  training  in  na 
tional  executive  duties,  rich  in  practical  results, 
not  least  of  which  is  to  be  reckoned  the  widening 
influence  of  foreign  travel,  he  now  returned  to 
the  field  illumined  by  "the  gladsome  light  of 
jurisprudence."  It  was  an  accession  that  obvi 
ously  strengthened  the  court. 

To  be  sure  the  present  tribunal  differed  alto 
gether  from  that  in  which  he  had  gained  his 
Massachusetts  experience ;  but  the  points  of  dif 
ference  were  very  largely  comprehended  in  a 
knowledge  of  the  practical  workings  and  traditions 
of  that  great  department  of  the  government  of 
which  he  had  made  himself  so  complete  a  master. 
The  new  judge  went  diligently  to  work.  With 
what  facility  and  exactness  he  performed  the  duties 
of  the  position  may  be  seen  upon  consulting  the 
opinions  of  the  court,  delivered  by  him  and 
printed  in  the  reports,  from  the  tenth  to  the  thirty- 
fifth  volume,  inclusive. 

Engaged  in  congenial  labors  and  blest  with 
continued  good  health,  the  judge's  prospect  for  the 
future  was  bright  and  unclouded.  The  sessions 
of  the  court  were  such  as  to  permit  a  long  ab 
sence  from  Washington  during  the  summer  vaca 
tion.  Early  in  the  season  of  1875  the  judge  with 
Mrs.  Richardson  and  their  daughter  started  to 
make  a  tour  around  the  world.  When  President 


110 

Grant  learned  of  the  project  he  signified  his  at 
tachment  to  his  friend  by  sending  him  a  letter  of 
introduction,  under  his  own  hand,  to  our  officials 
abroad,  commending  Judge  Richardson  and  his 
family  to  their  kind  attentions.  The  journey  was 
a  delightful  one.  The  party  went  through  Japan, 
into  China,  returning  by  way  of  Saigon  (in  Cochin 
China),  Singapore,  Ceylon,  Aden,  the  Red  Sea, 
and  so  through  the  Suez  Canal  and  Egypt,  and 
thence  to  more  familiar  points  in  Europe.  The 
Judge  hurried  home  to  take  up  his  duties  at  the 
court,  leaving  his  wife  and  daughter  at  Paris,  to 
pass  the  winter. 

Late  in  the  year  Mrs.  Richardson  was  taken  ill 
with  what  developed  later  into  an  incurable  disease. 
She  was  tenderly  cared  for  by  her  daughter,  yet  in 
spite  of  all  that  the  best  medical  skill  and  nursing 
could  do  the  malady  proved  fatal.  Mrs.  Richard 
son  died  at  Paris,  26  March,  1876.  The  young 
daughter  bore  up  bravely,  and  alone  made  the 
voyage  home  with  the  remains  of  her  dear  mother. 

The  force  of  the  blow  to  the  devoted  husband 
may  not  be  a  subject  of  estimation  here.  One 
might  almost  pronounce  it  a.  cruel  thing  that  she 
should  have  been  taken  away  at  a  time  when  he 
could  not  reach  her  bedside  for  even  a  last  look  of 
recognition.  The  chapter  of  their  union  in  hap 
piness  unalloyed  was  closed.  The  lonely  survivor 
turned  to  his  studies  and  to  his  daily  labor  for 


OF  THB 

UNIVERSITY 


Ill 

companionship  ;  while  the  daughter  took  her  place 
at  the  head  of  the  household.  Not  long  afterward 
Miss  Richardson  became  the  wife  of  Doctor  Ma- 
gruder  of  the  Navy,  and  the  young  couple  lived 
with  the  Judge.  To  provide  for  their  comfort, 
quite  as  much  as  for  his  own,  he  built  a  commo 
dious  house  at  the  northeast  corner  of  H  and 
Seventeenth  streets, — where  he  lived  (and  the 
Magruders  with  him)  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

In  addition  to  his  other  occupations  he  accepted 
a  professorship  in  the  Law  School  of  Georgetown 
College  in  1879,  and  delivered  law  lectures  there 
regularly  until  his  resignation  in  the  summer  of 
1894,  when  the  faculty  of  that  institution  by 
unanimous  vote  elected  him  emeritus  professor. 
In  announcing  to  him  their  action,  under  date  of 
28  June,  1894,  the  faculty  express  their  very 
deep  and  grateful  sense  of  his  "  most  valuable 
services  as  professor,  extending  over  so  long  a 
period  of  years,  almost  indeed  from,  the  very  in 
ception  of  the  school."  The  chair  that  he  filled 
was  that  of  statutory  law  and  legal  maxims.  He 
was  greatly  liked  by  the  students,  for  his  lectures 
were  practical,  and  delivered  in  a  style  capable 
of  being  readily  understood. 

Between  the  months  of  April  and  September, 
1878,  Judge  Richardson  expended  his  spare  mo 
ments  in  one  of  those  incidental  occupations  of 
which  he  was  so  fond.  With  an  industry  that  is 


112 

truly  marvelous,  considering  the  nature  of  his 
other  engagements,  he  prepared  in  this  interval, 
for  the  second  edition  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of 
the  United  States,  a  complete  index  that  took  the 
shape  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  pages,  closely 
printed  in  double  columns.  This  engrossing 
labor  he  was  willing  to  enter  upon  for  reasons  dis 
closed  only  since  his  death,  which  are  interesting 
to  the  public  and  highly  creditable  to  the  two 
men  chiefly  concerned. 

His  life-long  friend,  Governor  Boutwell,it  seems, 
had  been  appointed,  under  an  act  of  Congress, 
2  March,  1877,  a  commissioner  to  prepare  and 
publish  a  new  edition  of  the  first  volume  of  the 
Revised  Statutes,  the  first  edition  not  having 
proved  satisfactory.  When  the  Governor  had 
completed  his  labors,  and  had  in  hand  the  manu 
script  ready  for  the  printer,  Congress  passed  a 
supplementary  act,  approved  19  April,  1878, 
requiring  the  commissioner  to  revise  and  perfect 
the  index  to  the  new  edition.  This  formidable 
task,  so  entirely  distinct  from  the  duties  of  an 
editor,  the  distinguished  commissioner  shrank 
from  undertaking.  He  knew,  however, that  Judge 
Richardson  could  perform  this  work  if  any  man 
could,  and  he  accordingly  betook  himself  to  his 
friend  for  help. 

The  Judge  has  left  on  record  a  statement  of  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  found  it  his  duty  to 


113 

come  forward  and  take  upon  himself  the  burden 
of  this  great  responsibility.     He  says  : 

Governor  Boutwell  cametorne  and  said  that  he  had  never 
done  such  work  and  did  not  feel  like  undertaking  it,  and  rather 
than  do  so  he  would  resign,  and  would  resign  unless  I  would 
assist  him.  I  told  him  that  I  would  not  assist,  because  an  In 
dex  must  generally  be  the  work  of  one  mind ;  that  two  men 
could  not  cut  wood  at  the  same  time  with  one  axe.  The 
result  was  that  he  said  I  must  make  the  Index  and  I  agreed 
to  do  it. 

And  I  did  make  it,  myself, — wrote  out  in  manuscript  every 
word  and  figure  in  the  Index  to  the  Second  Edition  of  the 
Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States.  Boutwell  wanted  to 
state  the  fact  in  his  preface,  but  I  objected  to  his  mentioning 
my  name.  However  he  does  make  a  nameless  allusion  to  the 
fact.  How  well  the  work  was  done  it  must  itself  tell. 

To  make  it  well  required  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  stat 
utes  themselves,  which  I  had,  for  I  had  for  several  years  an 
notated  my  own  copy.  The  trouble  with  the  first  Index  was 
that  the  maker  used  unimportant  words  found  in  the  text,  or 
words  which  did  not  convey  the  whole  idea — the  substance, 
without  regard  to  the  subject  matter.  I  adopted  a  different  plan. 
I  used  words  which  expressed  the  meaning  and  sense  of  the 
section,  whether  they  were  used  in  the  text  of  the  Revision 
or  not ;  as,  for  instance,  under  "  Auditors  "  I  included  the 
Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  and  under 
"  Comptrollers  "  I  included  the  Sixth  Auditor  (Comptroller 
for  the  Post  Office)  and  the  Commissioner  of  Customs  (who  is 
auditor  only  and  nothing  else,  for  the  customs  business,  and 
should  have  been  designated  as  Third  Comptroller).  And  so 
on  through  the  whole  Index,  I  was  governed  by  meaning 
rather  than  by  words.  Governor  Boutwell  read  the  proof 
with  me. 

Of  the  execution  of  the  work  it  is  enough  to 
say  that  the  index  remains  a  model  of  its  kind. 


114 

At  the  earliest  moment  when  it  was  permitted  to 
the  survivor  to  break  silence,  he  took  occasion  to 
make  the  facts  public  and  gratefully  accord  to  his 
departed  friend  the  credit  due  to  protracted  and 
unselfish  labor.  After  commending  the  plan 
adopted  by  Judge  Richardson,  and  explaining  to 
what  extent  his  handiwork  applied,  Governor 
Boutwell  feelingly  adds,  u  The  death  of  Judge 
Richardson  gives  me  the  only  opportunity  that 
was  possible  of  placing  the  honor  of  the  index, 
which  must  mean  something  with  the  profession, 
to  the  credit  of  his  name  and  memory.* 

For  a  period  of  nearly  eleven  years  Judge 
Richardson  did  his  duty  faithfully  as  a  judge  of 
the  Court  of  Claims.  Upon  the  retirement  of 
Chief  Justice  Drake  (who  had  reached  his  seventy- 
fourth  year)  President  Arthur  sent  to  the  Senate 
the  names  of  William  A.  Richardson  to  be  chief 


*  Appendix,  post,  p.  xlviii. 

All  the  more  praise  is  due  to  Judge  Richardson  for  this  achievement, 
because  he  was  perfectly  well  aware  how  little  is  the  gain  to  a  man's  rep 
utation  from  the  faithful  performance  of  work  like  this.  Indeed,  he  has 
said  of  index-making  that,  "  most  persons  would  not  regard  it  as  exhibit 
ing  a  high  order  of  merit."  A  man  who  is  an  index-maker  and  nothing 
else  may  be  said  to  aim  low,  even  though  he  succeed  in  making  an  ad 
mirable  piece  of  work.  Where  such  labor  is  performed,  however,  out  of 
friendship,  at  intervals  of  time  that  by  other  men  is  made  a  period  of 
leisure,  its  successful  results  awaken  a  grateful  sense  of  obligation,  no  less 
than  unstinted  admiration  for  the  unselfish  motive  that  accompanies 
it.  In  view  of  the  superiority  of  Judge  Richardson's  work,  and  the 
pleasing  circumstances  in  which  it  was  executed,  his  modest  unwilling 
ness,  as  now  revealed,  to  be  known  as  its  author,  affords  us  a  phase  of  his 
character  which  his  friends  may  justly  admire. 


115 

justice  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  and  John  Davis 
(then  assistant  secretary  of  state)  to  be  a  judge 
of  the  court.  *  The  nominations,  which  were 
regarded  with  almost  universal  favor,  were 
promptly  confirmed,  20  January,  1885.  The 
rules  of  the  Senate  were  suspended  that  notice  of 
the  confirmation  of  the  chief  justice  might  be 
given  immediately  to  the  President  and  he  was 
sworn  in  the  next  day,  21  January. 

Though  the  honor  of  a  promotion  had  been 
fairly  earned,  the  new  chief  justice  seems  to  have 
determined  by  his  administration  of  the  office  to 
demonstrate  that  no  mistake  had  been  commit 
ted  in  entrusting  added  responsibilities  to  his 
hands.  He  knew  perfectly  the  opportunities  of 
the  position,  and  he  set  about  to  improve  them 
to  the  utmost.  In  this  praiseworthy  endeavor  he 
met,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,  with  complete 
and  enduring  success. 

In  a  presiding  justice,  personal  qualities  count 
far  more  than  in  an  associate  member  of  a  bench. 
The  chief  justice  is  the  executive  of  the  court. 


*  The  conjunction  of  the  names  of  Drake  and  Davis  serves  to  recall 
the  following  slight  incident :  The  writer  had  the  pleasure  of  moving  the 
admission  of  Mr.  John  Davis,  then  a  young  lawyer,  to  the  bar  of  the 
Court  of  Claims.  The  court  sat  at  that  time  in  rooms  at  the  Capitol. 
Chief  Justice  Drake  looked  through  his  glasses,  and  said  with  a  grim 
smile  :  "John  Davis  !  That  is  an  honored  name  in  this  Capitol."  The 
allusion  was  to  "  Honest  John  Davis,"  once  a  Senator  from  Massachusetts, 
the  grandfather  of  his  namesake,— the  present  accomplished  and  able 
judge  of  the  court. 


116 

Business  feels  bis  touch  instantly.  It  lags,  or  it  goes 
speedily  forward,  according  as  he  is  wanting,  or 
is  well  equipped  in  the  qualities  needful  for  the 
control  of  affairs.  The  chief  is  the  spokesman  of 
the  court;  the  official  medium  of  communication 
between  bench  and  bar.  Much — one  is  tempted 
to  say  all — depends  upon  his  manners  and  breed 
ing.  If  considerate  and  courteous,  it  is  well ;  if 
irritable  and  fussy,  it  is  deplorably  ill. 

Lawyers  who  practiced  in  the  Court  of  Claims 
were  of  one  mind  as  to  the  qualifications  of  Judge 
Richardson  to  succeed  to  the  post  of  chief  justice. 
They  united  in  saying  that  he  proved  himself 
everything  that  a  presiding  justice  should  be, — 
courteous,  patient,  ready  to  make  due  allowance 
for  shortcomings  of  counsel,  yet  withal  prompt, 
firm  and  insistent  upon  getting  speedily  to  the  real 
point  at  issue.  He  evinced  a  wonderful  power  of 
dispatching  business.  At  the  same  time  he  dis 
played — and  it  is  something  more  than  tact — that 
nameless  quality  which  encourages  counsel  to  do 
their  best,  and  yet  can  convey  a  suggestion — 
sometimes  an  urgent  command  even — without 
wounding  the  pride  of  the  most  sensitive  recipient. 
You  felt,  while  in  his  presence,  that  both  court 
and  counsel  were  working  to  their  utmost,  and 
yet  there  was  no  friction,  no  haste.  The  record 
of  what  the  court  accomplished  during  the  eleven 
years  or  more  that  he  presided  over  it,  is  to  a 


117 

measurable   degree  an  honorable  testimonial  to 
his  efficiency.* 

A  great  deal  of  work  is  done  by  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  Claims  in  chambers.  Of 
this  it  was  justly  said  at  the  bar  meeting  held  in 
his  memory: 

The  executive  duties  necessary  to  such  a  court,  largely 
carried  on  in  chambers  and  imperfectly  appreciated  by  us  as 
members  of  the  bar,  increasing  with  the  years  of  the  court, 
were  enormous,  but  always  met  with  a  patience,  a  careful 
consideration,  of  which  we  have  little  conception.! 

His  thoughts  were  daily  with  the  court.  He 
studied  to  strengthen  it  and  enlarge  its  sphere  of 
action.  One  of  his  many  vigils  was  to  keep  close 
watch  upon  Congress  that  they  should  take  no 
untoward  step  in  legislating  with  regard  to  a 
tribunal  which  they  had  created,  the  workings  of 
which  might  readily  be  a  subject  of  misconception. 
The  enlarged  jurisdiction  of  the  court  in  later 
years  is  to  be  traced  to  him,  yet  he  was  scrupulous 
to  guard  against  a  radical  change  in  its  organiza 
tion.  In  view  of  these  and  other  like  considera 
tions,  the  reader  ma}7  understand  how  engrossed 


*  A  gentleman  who  had  practiced  before  the  court  during  the  entire 
period  that  Judge  Richai'dson  was  upon  the  bench  says  of  him :  "He 
was  a  splendid  administrative  officer.  Nobody  dispatched  business  so 
rapidly  and  so  well.  He  was  considerate  of  the  comfort  and  convenience 
of  the  bar.  If  he  saw  a  lawyer  sitting  within  the  bar,  and  he  thought  him 
to  be  waiting  for  the  coming  on  of  a  case  that  he  knew  would  not  be 
reached,  he  would  send  down  a  note  to  him.  This  was  his  invariable 
custom.  The  bar  all  liked  him." 

t  Appendix,  p.  xix. 


118 

was  the  active  mind  of  the  chief  justice  alike  in 
the  trial  of  causes,  and  in  thoughts  for  the  welfare, 
growth  and  permanence  of  the  court  itself. 

It  was  a  habit  of  the  chief  justice  to  bestow  a 
good  deal  of  care  upon  his  opinions  ;  and  as  a 
result,  besides  being  well  reasoned,  they  are  favor 
able  specimens  of  a  good  judicial  style.  He  rarely 
employed  his  pen  in  other  fields  than  that  of 
law;  what  little  he  accomplished  beyond  opin 
ions  and  articles  upon  legal  subjects,  was  chiefly 
confined  to  papers  of  an  historical  character. 

As  early  as  1857  he  was  elected  a  resident 
member  of  the  New  England  Historic  Genea 
logical  Society  of  Boston;  and  he  was  made  an 
honorary  member  in  1873.  In  January  of  that 
year  he  was  chosen  an  honorary  vice-president  of 
the  society,  and  thereafter  was  elected  annually 
to  that  office  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years.  He 
had  pursued  investigations  into  the  early  history 
of  his  native  town  of  Tyngsborough,  and  pub 
lished  a  valuable  article  on  that  topic  in  the 
Lowell  Daily  Courier  of  4  April,  1881.  Upon  one 
of  his  visits  to  England  he  made  researches  in 
aid  of  this  local  history,  and  he  succeeded  in 
bringing  to  light  several  interesting  facts,  that 
enabled  him  to  correct  errors  in  the  statements 
of  earlier  writers.  This  modest  undertaking  was 
much  to  his  taste.  It  is  further  to  be  observed 
that  he  contributed  several  articles  to  the  New 


England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register  of 
considerable  importance.* 

Proof  sheets  of  one  of  these  historical  papers 
reached  the  house  of  the  chief  justice  in  Wash 
ington  during  his  last  illness,  too  late,  however, 
to  be  submitted  to  his  revision.  The  article  in 
question  was  entitled,  "The  Government  of  Har 
vard  College,  Past  and  Present."  It  appeared 
in  the  January  number  of  the  Register,  following 
his  death.  The  same  painstaking  application 
appears  here  as  in  his  earlier  work.  In  order 
to  prepare  it  he  had  consulted  records,  legis 
lative  and  collegiate,  covering  a  period  from 
1636  to  the  present  day;  and  he  has  succeeded 
in  producing  an  article  which  takes  rank  as  au 
thority  upon  a  subject  of  which  little  has  here 
tofore  been  accurately  known.  In  a  letter  which 
he  had  sent  with  the  manuscript  to  the  editor,  he 
observes : 

The  length  of  the  article  is  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  the 
time  I  have  devoted  to  it.  To  condense  a  mass  of  matter 
which  I  have  had  to  examine,  into  a  short  readable  article  on 
the  salient  points  of  the  subject,  has  cost  me  much  trouble 
and  research. 

I  am  the  last  survivor  of  those  who  were  members  of  the 
board  of  overseers  by  the  election  of  both  the  legislature  and 
the  graduates  of  the  college.  Of  those  who  were  members  in 
1863,  when  I  was  first  elected,  there  are  but  two  others  still 
living. 

*  See  bibliographical  note  in  Appendix,  post,  pp.  Ixxvi,  Ixxvii. 


120 

The  society  of  which  he  had  been  an  honored 
member  was  not  unmindful  of  the  worth  of  such 
labor  as  his  in  the  chosen  field  of  early  New  Eng 
land  annals.  The  language  of  the  following 
extract  from  resolutions  adopted  upon  learning 
of  his  death  denotes,  it  may  confidently  be  be 
lieved,  something  beyond  the  ordinary  express 
ion  of  regret  upon  like  occasions  : 

His  interest  in  the  future  of  the  society  was  constant  and 
generous.  During  his  long  connection  with  the  society  he  was 
a  frequent  contributor  to  the  pages  of  the  Register.  The  death 
of  Chief  Justice  Eichardson  is  a  public  national  loss,  and  this 
society,  as  only  an  inadequate  expression  of  its  regard  for  his 
services  in  behalf  of  accurate  historical  knowledge  and  good 
learning,  adopts  the  following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  this  society  is  deeply  impressed  with  the 
value  of  the  work  and  influence  of  Chief  Justice  Richardson 
in  behalf  of  the  objects  for  which  it  was  formed. 

Resolved,  That  his  death  is  a  special  loss  to'the  society  and 
to  historical  students  in  general.* 

Fortunately  for  the  chief  justice  he  had  in 
herited  an  unusually  good  constitution.  All  his 
life  he  had  been  a  temperate  man  and  regular  in 
his  habits.  As  a  reward,  his  health  was  for  the 
most  part  vigorous,  giving  promise  of  length  of 
years ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  put  to 
a  severe  strain  his  power  of  endurance,  by  taxing 
himself  with  laborious  application  day  after  day. 


*  Proceedings  of  New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Society,  upon  the 
death  of  the  Honorable  William  Adams  Richardson  (1897). 


121 

Not  content  to  labor  through  the  hours  usually 
allotted  to  that  purpose,  he  borrowed  of  time 
needed  for  sleep.  He  rose  very  early  in  the 
morning  and  went  immediately  to  work.  A 
large  part  of  what  was  done  by  him  upon  the 
statutes  he  accomplished  before  breakfast. 

His  daily  morning  appearance  at  the  consulta 
tion  room  of  the  court  was  an  example  of  punc 
tuality.  Here  he  busied  himself  with  scarcely 
a  pause,  unless  when  actually  compelled  by  the 
presence  of  some  one  to  turn  away  from  the  rou 
tine  work  in  hand.  During  his  period  of  three 
and  twenty  years  upon  the  bench  in  the  Court  of 
Claims  he  never  once  missed  a  day  in  his  attend 
ance  upon  the  sessions  of  the  court,  with  the 
single  exception  of  a  week's  confinement  at  home 
owing  to  an  injury  to  his  hand — a  really  remark 
able  instance  of  devotion  to  duty. 

To  even  the  mildest  form  of  mental  diversion 
he  remained  a  complete  stranger.  Unlike  most 
men,  he  cared  nothing  whatever  for  light  read 
ing,  or  for  amusements  such  as  billiards  or  a  game 
of  cards.  It  appears  as  though  he  had  estimated 
the  precise  amount  of  time  that  he  could  devote 
to  his  chosen  work,  and  that  in  so  doing,  he  had 
purposely  left  no  room  for  those  moments  of  re 
pose  and  recreation  so  needful  in  the  daily  rou 
tine  of  life. 

His  exercise  was  chiefly  walking.     He  did  not 


122 

take  the  vacations  that  others  allowed  themselves. 
Several  times  he  went  abroad  in  the  summer  (in 
1893  he  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  nineteen  times) ; 
but  upon  these  trips  he  was  not  idle;  and  his 
brain  frequently  was  not  permitted  to  rest  while 
away  from  the  desk.  One  might  almost  say  that 
he  had  sat  as  judge  at  a  trial  of  himself,  had 
convicted  the  prisoner,  and  had  sentenced  himself 
to  hard  labor  for  life. 

That  such  an  unceasing  stretch  of  work  vio 
lated  the  laws  of  health  can  not  be  denied;  and 
the  chief  justice  sooner  or  later  had  to  pay  the 
penalty.  When  he  had  reached  the  allotted  term 
of  three  score  and  ten,  there  was,  it  is  true,  no 
perceptible  diminution  of  vigor  in  his  walk  and 
bearing.  "  He  is  one  of  those  genial,  sunny 
men," some  one  had  earlier  written  of  him,  "upon 
whom  time  makes  no  impression."  But  not  long 
after  passing  that  milestone  slight  signs  indicated 
that  his  many  years  were  beginning  to  tell 
upon  him.  Still,  he  was  constant  in  attendance 
upon  his  duties,  and  as  ready  apparently  to  go 
forward  with  the  regular  burden  as  ever. 

In  the  summer  of  1896,  his  friends  were  not 
blind  to  an  admonition  that  his  strength  was 
somewhat  abating.  About  a  year  before  while 
in  England  he  had  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  from 
which  he  recovered  by  the  best  of  nursing,  so  as 
to  return  home  and  resume  his  place  upon  the 


123 

bench.  The  fact  of  this  warning  was  not  gener 
ally  known,  but  those  close  to  him  held  it  con 
stantly  in  rnind  and  could  not  but  be  aware  that 
his  days  of  continuous  labor  were  numbered. 
The  end,  however,  came  more  swiftly  than  they 
had  counted  upon. 

It  so  happened  that  the  court  had  taken  its 
usual  adjournment  in  the  summer  to  meet  on 
the  morning  of  Monday,  19  October.  There  is  a 
certain  melancholy  interest  in  noting  that  on  the 
very  morning  appointed  for  the  court  to  assemble 
for  the  new  term,  the  chief  justice  passed  away. 
He  died  at  his  residence  in  Washington,  on  H 
street  northwest,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  18th 
street,  about  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  that 
Monday.  He  had  been  ill  for  about  two  weeks; 
and  yet,  until  shortly  before  his  death,  no  appre 
hension  had  been  entertained  of  a  fatal  result. 

His  daughter,  Mrs.  Magruder,  her  husband, 
and  their  two  children  were  living  with  him 
at  the  time  of  his  illness,  and  were  present  to  wit 
ness  how  peaceful  was  the  end.*  The  funeral 
services  were  simple,  as  he  would  have  wished. 
They  took  place  at  All  Souls'  (Unitarian)  church, 
on  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  21  October.  The 
pallbearers  were  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  Lawrence 
Weldon,  John  Davis,  Stanton  J.  Peelle,  Frank  W. 

*  Mrs.  Magruder,  his  only  child,  did  not  long  survive  him.  She  died 
at  Washington,  4  April,  1898. 


124 

Hackett,  George  A.  King,  William  A.  Maury  and 
Joseph  J.  McCammon. 

The  Reverend  E.  Bradford  Leavitt,  who  but 
shortly  before  had  been  settled  as  minister  to  this 
church ,  conducted  the  services.  His  brief  remarks 
were  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  occasion.  He 
spoke  of  the  long  continuance  in  high  public 
position  of  him  whose  body  they  were  about  to 
commit  to  the  grave ;  and  dwelt  upon  his  toler 
ance  and  his  faithfulness  as  a  member  of  the 
church.  The  body  was  taken  to  the  beautiful 
cemetery  of  Oak  Hill  (Georgetown),  Washington, 
and  laid  beside  that  of  his  wife.  "  Man  goeth  forth 
to  his  work  and  to  his  labour  until  the  evening." 

A  meeting  of  the  bar  of  the  Court  of  Claims 
was  held  in  the  courtroom  on  the  forenoon  of 
Friday,  20  November,  1896.  Few  lawyers  of 
those  accustomed  to  practice  before  the  court  were 
absent.  A  spontaneity  and  genuineness  of  feeling, 
that  could  not  be  misunderstood,  pervaded  the 
proceedings.  The  resolutions  of  the  meeting, 
together  with  the  remarks  of  those  who  paid  their 
tribute  of  respect  by  speaking  of  the  late  chief 
justice,  were  far  more  interesting  and  impressive 
than  is  usual  at  such  times. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  occasion  when  the 
court  received  the  report  of  the  resolutions  of 
the  bar  on  Monday,  23  November.  The  Honor 
able  Charles  C.  Nott  presided,  and  there  sat  with 


125 

the  judges  the  Honorable  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis, 
formerly  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  and. 
the  Honorable  Martin  F.  Morris,  associate  jus 
tice  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  the  District  of 
Columbia.  Mr.  Justice  Morris,  besides  being 
an  intimate  friend,  had  for  many  years  been 
associated  with  the  chief  justice  as  a  professor 
in  the  law  school  of  Georgetown  University. 
Mr.  Assistant  Attorney  General  Joshua  E. 
Dodge  offered  the  resolutions  to  the  court  in  a 
few  words  happily  expressed.  He  was  followed 
by  Mr.  George  S.  Boutwell,  who  by  vote  of  the 
bar  meeting  had  been  requested  to  second  the 
resolutions.  Allusion  is  elsewhere  made  in  these 
pages  to  certain  features  of  Governor  Boutwell's 
tribute.  Aside  from  the  faithful  portraiture  that 
it  affords,  this  brief  address  is  worthy  of  special 
commendation  for  its  undoubted  literary  merit. 
The  Honorable  Lawrence  Weldon  responded  on 
behalf  of  the  court.  A  single  sentence  will  indi 
cate  with  what  discernment  Judge  Weldon  had 
studied  the  mental  characteristics  of  his  chief. 

He  was  highly  educated  in  the  perfect  discipline  of  his 
mind,  being  enabled  because  of  such  discipline  to  bestow 
upon  any  subject  of  investigation  the  undivided  and  pro 
longed  thought  of  his  whole  being;  and  that  in  the  end  is  the 
perfection  of  education. 

The  event,  one  of  the  most  important  in  the 
history  of  the  court,  was  particularly  grateful  to 


126 

the  friends  of  Chief  Justice  Richardson  and  to 
the  bar.* 

The  senior  judge  became  chief  justice;  a  new 
judge  took  his  seat  upon  the  bench,  and  the  bus 
iness  of  the  court  went  on.  But  there  were  those 
about  the  court  room, — judge,  clerk,  bailiff  or 
faithful  messenger  alike, — who  missed  the  figure 
and  the  kindly  greetings  of  one  who  for  well-nigh 
a  quarter  of  a  century  had  found  here  his  happi 
ness  in  daily  toil.  The  traditions  of  the  bar, 
already  settling  down  upon  the  name  and  mem 
ory  of  the  late  chief  justice,  will  deal  gently  with 
his  faults,  and  speak  in  no  uncertain  tone  of  his 
diligence  and  his  unswerving  fidelity  to  duty. 

*  At  a  meeting  of  the  Harvard  Club  of  Washingtou  resolutions  were 
passed,  speaking  in  fitting  terms  of  the  loss  of  one  of  its  most  distinguished 
members.  The  chief  justice,  with  all  his  ardent  love  for  the  College, 
could  seldom  be  prevailed  upon  to  attend  the  annual  dinner  of  the  Har 
vard  Club.  He  did  come  once  or  twice  when  the  club  was  young  and 
struggling,  but  his  aversion  to  large  dinners  was  enough  to  keep  him 
away  regularly,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  remained  in  hearty 
sympathy  with  the  purposes  of  the  organization. 

The  graduates  of  Dartmouth  College  at  Washington  had  a  warm 
regard  for  Chief  Justice  Eichardson,  an  adopted  son,  (for  he  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  from  that  institution  in  1886)  as  is  shown  by 
the  following  extract  from  the  record  of  the  proceedings  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Alumni  Association,  held  at  the  Raleigh  on  the  evening 
of  19  January,  1897.  On  motion  of  S.  R.  Bond,  Esquire,  this  resolution 
was  unanimously  adopted : 

"In  all  the  positions  which  he  held  he  was  distinguished  for  inde 
fatigable  industry,  high  conception  of  duty  and  incorruptible  integrity, 
and  the  result  of  his  labors  will  remain  of  lasting  service  to  his  fellow- 
men. 

"It  is  appropriate  that  at  this  first  meeting  of  the  association  since  his 
death,  in  consideration  of  his  affiliation  with ;  our  alma  mater,  we  should 
commemorate  his  distinguished  life  and  services,  and  recognize  the  loss 
sustained  in  his  decease, 


127 


HAVING  THUS  hastily  surveyed  the  leading  feat 
ures  of  the  ever  busy  life  of  the  subject  of  our 
sketch,  let  us  for  a  moment  contemplate  such  traits 
of  character  as  appear  chiefly  to  have  guided  his 
conduct,  and  for  the  most  part  to  account  for  the 
measure  of  success  or  failure  justly  to  be  accorded 
him. 

These  pages,  it  must  be  confessed,  are  fairly 
open  to  the  criticism  that  stress  has  again  and 
again  been  laid  upon  the  fact  that  Chief  Justice 
Richardson  loved  work.  An  intense  love  of  work, 
however, — and  it  is  not  a  hasty  conclusion  to  say 
so, — is  really  the  key-note  to  his  character.  He 
was  to  the  last  degree  utilitarian.  Born  on  a 
rugged  soil,  where  generations  had  gained  a  sub 
sistence  only  by  the  exercise  of  an  indomitable 
energy,  young  Richardson  from  the  first  came 
under  an  inspiration  to  dedicate  himself  to  toil  in 
any  direction  where  he  could  see  that  his  labor 
would  produce  a  good  result.  His  mind  was 
eminently  practical.  He  had  no  idea  whatever 
of  what  it  is  to  "dwell  in  a  world  apart."  He 
found  himself  in  this  working-day  world  at  a  very 
busy  season,  among  people  tireless  and  inventive; 
and  his  thoughts  became  engrossed  in  the  hard- 
headed  New  England  business  of  earning  a  com 
petence,  and  making  himself  meanwhile  of  use 


128 

and  value  to  the  community  around  him.  Such 
were  his  aspirations. 

Keeping  in  sight  the  predominating,  not  to  say 
absorbing,  influence  of  this  idea  of  life's  duty,  let 
us  examine  what  Judge  Richardson  accomplished 
respectively  as  lawyer,  statesman  and  judge;  and 
ascertain,  if  we  may,  what  rank  should  be  accorded 
to  him  among  his  fellows. 

When  a  career  has  ended,  we  ask,  was  it  a  suc 
cess?  Though  men  differ  widely  in  their  estimate 
of  what  standard  should  be  applied  as  the  one 
true  measure  of  success,  yet  they  generally  admit 
the  life  of  him  to  have  been  successful  in  a  certain 
sense,  who,  judged  by  the  standard  fixed  by 
himself,  has  fairly  attained  the  ends  for  which  he 
has  striven. 

Judge  Richardson  started  to  make  his  own  way 
in  life  with  a  plentiful  stock  of  "common  sense." 
He  saw  things  as  they  were,  and  indulged  in  no 
vagaries.  He  meant  to  be  a  lawyer,  as  his  father 
had  been  before  him ;  and  he  studied  hard  to  fit 
himself  for  the  profession.  He  was  a  singularly 
modest  man;  in  fact,  had  his  nature  been  a  little 
more  aggressive,  he  doubtless  would  have  im 
pressed  a  sense  of  his  real  abilities  more  deeply 
upon  those  with  whom  he  mingled.  This  mod 
esty  of  his,  amounting  in  some  circumstances 
almost  to  timidity,  probably  accounts  for  the  fact 
that  he  took  no  part  in  the  contests  of  the  bar, 


129 

where  ready,  off-hand  speaking  was  required. 
His  preference,  as  we  have  seen,  was  from  the 
first  for  office  practice. 

He  has  himself  well  expressed  the  estimate  in 
which  in  his  opinion  a  talent  for  public  speaking 
or  forensic  oratory  should  be  held.  That  he  was 
content  to  yield  to  others  the  glow  of  triumphant 
encounter  at  the  bar,  and  felt  it  to  be  no  great 
deprivation,  is  apparent  from  the  following  lan 
guage  of  an  address  delivered  by  him  in  1869 
to  the  students  of  the  Columbian  Law  School, 
Washington : 

It  is  a  mistaken  notion,  too  often  believed  by  young  men, 
that  to  be  a  lawyer,  one  must  be  an  advocate,  and  therefore  to 
become  successful  after  leaving  the  law  schools  one  must  be 
an  eloquent  speaker.  It  is  true  that  a  mere  advocate  may 
easily  make  a  pecuniary  fortune  and  gain  extensive  notoriety, 
but  if  he  is  not  something  more  his  abilities  thrive  but  for  a 
day,  and  he  leaves  little  or  no  mark  behind  him.  When  his 
contemporaries,  who  are  charmed  by  his  voice  and  manner 
pass  away,  he  is  forgotten. 

The  real  lawyer  need  not  be  an  advocate,  but  he  must  be 
a  man  of  great  acquirements  and  learning.  He  must  be 
learned  in  facts  as  well  as  in  law.  A  lawyer  in  large  practice 
has  more  to  do  with  facts  than  with  law,  and  therefore  the 
more  extensive  his  acquirements  in  all  things  which  influence 
the  conduct  of  men,  and  affect  the  material  interest  of  the 
world,  in  the  history  of  the  past  and  in  the  passing  events 
of  the  present,  the  more  certain  and  great  will  be  his  success. 

He  mastered  legal  principles  after  close  study ; 
and  since  he  gained  his  knowledge  only  by 
long-continued  application,  he  held  it  tenaciously, 


130 

and  was  always  prepared  to  apply  it  to  a  case  in 
hand.  He  may  be  said  to  have  been  a  good 
lawyer,  who  had  in  him  many  of  the  elements 
that  go  to  make  up  the  great  lawyer.  It  is  safe  to 
assert  that  no  man  in  his  day  had  acquired  a 
wider  or  more  thorough  knowledge  of  the  statute 
law  than  Chief  Justice  Richardson.  From  his 
experience  in  this  branch  of  learning  he  came  to 
possess  great  aptitude  in  construing  the  language 
of  enactments  so  as  best  to  express  the  legislative 
will.  He  also  grew  to  be  an  expert  draftsman, 
whose  precision  and  accuracy  could  always  be 
depended  upon. 

The  following  practical  hints  in  dealing  with 
the  subject  of  drafting  or  revising  statute  law 
attest  the  truth  of  this  statement.  They  are  set 
forth  in  a  paper  drawn  up  by  him  and  entitled 
"  Some  suggestions  for  revising  the  statutes  formed 
after  long  and  extensive  experience  and  obser 
vation  " : 

1.  Never  use  the  two  words  "the  said"  together.    Either 
one  is  sufficient. 

2.  Avoid  too  frequent  use  of  "  any."   The  same  idea  may  be 
often  better  expressed  by  "  a  "  or  "  an." 

3.  In  statutes  relating  to  crimes  and  offenses,  instead  of 
the  formula,  "  If  any  person  shall  falsely  make,"  etc.,  say 
"Whoever  falsely  makes,"  etc.;  or,  instead  of "  Any  person 
who  shall  steal,"  etc.,  say  "  Whoever  steals,"  etc. 

4.  Instead  of  "  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Pensions"  (or  other  officer),  etc.,  say  "The  Commissioner  of 
Pensions  shall"  (Rev.  Stat.  U.  S.,  sees.  3203,  4701,  4769,  4786, 


131 

etc.).  Instead  of  "The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  "  (or  other 
officer)  "  is  authorized,"  etc.,  say  "  The  Secretary  of  the  Inter 
ior"  (or  other  officer)  "may."  (Examples  Rev.  Stat.  U.  S., 
sees.  4776,  4777,  4778,  4780, 1704,  etc.)  The  Revised  Statutes 
abound  in  such  expressions. 

5.  Employ  no  provisos,  but  divide  each  long  section  into 
two  or  more.    (Rev.  Stat.  U.  S.,  sec.  3173.)     (It  is  difficult  to 
use  provisos  with  technical  accuracy. )     So  with  long  sections 
without  provisos.     (Rev.  Stat.  U.  S.,  sees.  639,  641,  643.) 

6.  Sections  embracing  the  same  general  idea  with  shades 
of  variations  should  be  consolidated  and  rewritten.  It  is  often 
easier  to  interpret  one  section  than  to  construe  several  har 
moniously  together.    (See  Rev.  Stat.  U.  S.,  sees.  1763, 1765, 
1766,  which  have  given  rise  to  much  litigation.) 

7.  There  are  many  superfluous  and  worse  than  useless 
words  in  every  section,  which  should  be  omitted  or  the  sec 
tion  recast  in  more  concise  language. 

8.  Paragraphing  is  of  great  advantage  wherever  there  are 
changes  in  the  ideas,  or  divisions  of  the  subject.    (See  striking 
example  of  the  want  of  it  in  "  The  Compiled  Statutes  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  1894,"  "  Descent,"  sec.  1,  pp.  192, 193.) 
For  example  of  its  use  see  Supplement  to  Rev.  Stat.  everywhere. 
Cases  cited  should  be  in  columns  and  not  run  together  as  in 
Rev.  Stat.  U.  S.,  margin  of  sees.  629,  639,  649,  652. 

9.  Material  changes  in  the  language  should  be  explained 
in  notes,  pointing  out  the  object  and  whether  or  not  any 
change  in  the  law  is  intended. 

10.  Most  of  these  suggestions  are  just  as  applicable  to 
drafting  new7  acts  as  to  revising  old  ones,  and  in  all  law  docu 
ments,  such  as  deeds,  findings  of  fact,  and  opinions,  may  be 
observed  with  advantage. 

Judge  Richardson's  career  upon  the  bench  of 
the  Court  of  Probate  and  Insolvency  of  his  native 
state  lias  already  been  characterized  as  eminently 
successful.  He  there  dealt  with  a  range  of  sub- 


132 

jects  in  which  he  had  made  himself  second  to  no 
man,  for  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  law. 
The  systematic  and  orderly  procedure  of  the  court, 
even  the  regularity  with  which  numerous  details 
are  rapidly  taken  up  and  disposed  of,  were  to  him 
specially  pleasing.  In  what  to  many  minds 
seemed  a  maze  of  complications  and  perplexities, 
he  saw  only  an  opportunity  for  deducing  order 
and  perspicuous  arrangement.  Though  the  work 
in  time  got  to  be  largely  a  matter  of  routine,  the 
Judge  enjoyed  it ;  and  one  reason  why  he  enjoyed 
it  may  have  been  because  it  was  left  for  him  to 
explain  to  both  lawyers  and  laymen  the  real  sim 
plicity  of  a  system,  otherwise  by  them  indiffer 
ently  well  understood. 

Of  course  the  thought  occurs  to  the  reader  that 
there  must  inevitably  be  some  risk  of  a  lack  of 
breadth  in  a  life  entirely  spent  in  work  such  as 
this ;  but  a  timely  transfer  to  the  new  and  untried 
duties  of  an  assistant  secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
rescued  Judge  Richardson  from  any  such  conse 
quences. 

A  man  whose  native  bent  is  judicial,  and  who 
has  enjoyed  the  experience  of  many  years'  training 
upon  the  bench  will,  if  suddenly  transplanted  to 
an  executive  life,  rarely  make  a  success  of  the 
new  undertaking.  This  is  eminently  true  of  a 
judge  whose  predominating  tastes  are  those  of 
the  student,  rather  than  those  of  a  practical  man 


133 

of  affairs.  Judges  are  aided  by  argument  from 
counsel,  and  they  deal  with  questions  that  they 
have  time  carefully  to  consider.  The  bench  to 
a  large  extent  follows  precedent.  Its  chief  busi 
ness  is  to  ascertain  what  legal  principles  rule  the 
facts,  as  settled  by  the  evidence.  There  are  times, 
to  be  sure,  but  they  occur  rarely,  when  a  supreme 
test  is  made  of  the  courage  and  fearlessness  of  the 
court,  whether  a  single  judge,  or  consisting  of 
several  judges  sitting  in  bank.  The  ordinary 
experience  of  men  in  judicial  position,  however, 
is  not  of  a  character  to  foster  readiness  to  incur 
responsibility. 

As  has  already  been  intimated,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  had  in  his  makeup  not  quite  enough 
of  that  bold,  aggressive  and  self-confident  spirit, 
which  one  to  be  a  successful  leader  of  men  must 
possess.  It  is  indeed  a  rare  quality.  Natural 
disposition,  early  training  and  long  continuance 
upon  the  bench  had  fitted  Judge  Richardson 
rather  for  the  quiet  contemplation  of  the  merits 
of  a  legal  controversy ,  than  for  rendering  off-hand 
decisions  of  what  ought  to  be  done  in  this  or  that 
urgency  involving  large  responsibilities. 

When  Judge  Richardson  came  to  Washington 
it  was  to  enter  a  field  of  public  duty  altogether 
different  from  that  to  which  he  had  been  accus 
tomed.  It  was  an  interesting  work,  however,  and 
although  for  three  years  he  continued  to  regard 


f  UNIVERSITY 


134 

his  absence  from  Cambridge  as  a  temporary  one, 
he  soon  began  to  adapt  himself  to  the  new  con 
ditions.  At  this  post,  as  we  have  seen,  he  did 
faithful  service,  and  achieved  what  his  friends 
deemed  a  gratifying  measure  of  success. 

Later,  upon  being  advanced  to  a  higher  office, 
where  all  the  responsibility  rested  upon  his  own 
shoulders,  he  had  to  meet  requirements  immeas 
urably  graver.  A  host  of  questions,  many  of  them 
of  momentous  consequence,  demanded  instant 
decision.  He  was  brought  face  to  face  with  many 
perplexities,  some  of  them  growing  out  of  the 
action  of  men  in  high  political  station,  who  sought 
to  impress  their  views  upon  him,  or  have  him 
grant  their  personal  requests.  Secretary  Rich 
ardson,  it  must  be  observed,  had  not  served  in  the 
State  legislature  or  in  Congress ;  and  his  actual 
experience  of  the  ins  and  outs  of  political  life  was 
necessarily  limited. 

It  would  do  this  honest  and  pure-minded  pub 
lic  servant  a  great  injustice  to  assert  that  he 
lacked  the  nerve  to  refuse  point-blank  a  political 
request ;  or  that  he  betrayed  too  ready  a  disposi 
tion  to  yield  to  strong  and  persistent  pressure. 
Such  is  not  the  fact.  But  in  the  many  emergen 
cies  requiring  the  quick  exercise  of  an  inflexible 
will,  and  the  daring  to  go  ahead,  be  the  conse 
quence  what  it  might, — he  felt  a  need  which  a 
sterner  and  bolder  nature  would  not  perhaps  have 


135 

recognized.  Ex-Secretary  Boutwell,  his  life-long 
friend,  who  knew  better  than  any  one  else  the 
strong  and  the  weak  points  exhibited  by  Judge 
Richardson  in  his  administration  of  the  Treasury, 
alludes  to  this  phase  of  his  character,  as  follows : 

I  have  once  made  this  remark  in  a  public  way  :  There  is  a 
rough  side  to  government,  and  there  must  be  a  quality  of  harsh 
ness  in  those  who  administer  governments  successfully.  Such 
generalizations,  even  if  true  as  rules  of  action,  are  subject  to  ex 
ceptions.  If  it  had  been  the  fortune  of  Judge  Richardson  to 
have  served  on  the  executive  side  of  the  government  for  a 
period  of  years,  and  there  had  been  any  just  cause  for  criticism, 
it  would  have  had  its  origin  in  the  absence  of  the  quality  of 
harshness  in  his  nature.* 

In  advancing  this  statement  the  writer  must 
not  be  understood  as  intimating  that  Secretary 
Richardson  lacked  anything  of  courage  or  ability 
in  the  prompt  decision  of  large  questions  of  state, 
such,  for  example,  as  are  laid  before  his  cabinet 
officers  by  the  President  in  the  general  admin 
istration  of  the  government.  Here  it  is  indis 
putably  the  fact  that  Secretary  Richardson  mani 
fested  a  clear  insight,  and  a  praiseworthy  readi 
ness  to  assume  the  fullest  measure  of  responsibil 
ity.  It  was  rather  in  matters  of  importance  rank 
ing  above  merely  minor  questions  of  administra 
tive  routine  that  he  was  disposed  to  refer  to  pre 
cedent,  and  look  to  the  views  of  others  around 
him — a  course  very  natural  for  one  whose  train 
ing  had  hitherto  been  almost  exclusively  judicial. 

*  Appendix,  pp.  xlvi,  xlvii,  post. 


136 

There  is  of  course  a  vast  amount  of  routine  work 
going  on  at  the  Treasury  of  which  the  Secretary 
from  the  nature  of  things  can  know  but  little,  no 
one  man  having  time  or  strength  to  give  it  per 
sonal  supervision.  But  the  head  of  that  great 
department,  like  the  general  in  command  of  an 
army,  makes  himself  felt,  so  to  speak,  all  along 
the  line.  The  traditions  of  the  department  are 
to  the  effect  that  in  Secretary  Richardson's  day 
energy  was  infused  into  the  channels  of  ordinary 
business,  and  subordinates  worked  cheerfully 
under  the  eye  of  their  chief.  He  was  popular 
throughout  the  department. 

Public  questions  of  great  magnitude,  as  has  just 
been  remarked,  were  sure  of  receiving  at  his 
hands  prompt  and  wise  disposal.  The  Secretary 
relied  upon  his  own  unaided  powers  wherever 
necessary.  His  cool  and  courageous  action  dur 
ing  the  panic  of  1873  richty  entitles  him  to  grate 
ful  remembrance  as  a  resourceful  and  trustworthy 
officer  of  the  government.  Indeed,  his  reputa 
tion  may  be  safely  left  to  the  record  of  service 
rendered  in  that  trying  emergency.  It  is  speak 
ing  within  bounds  to  say  of  Secretary  Richard 
son  that  in  his  official  acts  his  motives  were  pure, 
his  diligence  unwearied  and  his  judgment  uni 
formly  sound.  To  an  eminent  degree  faithful  in 
his  great  trust,  he  secured  the  affectionate  esteem 
of  General  Grant, and  gained  the  respect  of  all  who 


137 

were  closely  connected  with   him  in  administer 
ing  the  affairs  of  the  government. 

Says  ex- Attorney-General  George  H.  Williams, 
the  only  surviving  member  of  the  cabinet  of 
which  Secretary  Richardson  was  a  member : 

I  was  favorably  impressed  with  his  executive  abilities  as 
the  assistant  of  Secretary  Boutwell,  and  used  my  influence 
with  the  President  to  secure  his  appointment  as  Mr.  Boutw ell's 
successor.  Judge  Richardson  never  said  or  did  anything  to 
produce  a  sensation.  His  ambition  was  to  perform  his  public 
duties  faithfully  and  honestly,  without  ostentation  or  display. 
He  was  modest  and  unassuming,  and  in  my  judgment  was  not 
current  in  popular  estimation  at  his  real  worth.  He  has  left 
an  enviable  reputation.* 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  conspic 
uous  fitness  of  Judge  Richardson  for  a  seat  upon 
the  bench  of  the  Court  of  Claims.  There  were 
able  lawyers  on  that  bench  during  his  incum 
bency,  but  no  one  surpassed  him  in  the  possession 
of  those  qualities  which  are  specially  needful  to 
command  the  highest  measure  of  judicial  success. 
He  was  greatly  respected  and  liked  by  the  entire 
bar. 

It  had  seemed  to  the  writer,  therefore,  pecu 
liarly  appropriate  that  the  testimony  of  the  bar 
and  court  to  the  true  position  held  by  their  de 
ceased  brother  should  be  preserved  in  the  form  of 
an  appendix  to  this  fragmentary  sketch,  in  order 
that  the  reader  may  resort  to  these  authoritative 

*  MS.  letter,  Portland,  Oregon,  19  July,  1897. 


138 

sources,  and  learn  with  what  measure  of  respect 
men  who  knew  him  intimately  agree  in  esti 
mating  his  talents  and  acquirements.  It  were 
unfitting  to  attempt  to  add  anything  to  what  is 
there  said  with  so  much  acuteness  of  observation 
— so  much  precision  and  integrity  of  expression. 
For  no  one  can  lend  ear  to  the  utterances  of  that 
occasion,  and  fail  to  he  struck  with  their  sincerity 
of  tone  and  their  wholesome  freedom  from  exag 
geration.  They  are  words  of  honest  praise.  To  a 
degree  rare  in  like  circumstances,  the  portrait  of 
the  man  is  outlined  with  striking  fidelity  to  the 
form  and  feature  of  the  original.  It  is  much  to 
have  deserved  such  a  tribute;  yet  those  who 
knew  the  chief  justice  from  the  vantage  ground 
of  intimate  acquaintance  will  say  that  his  mem 
ory  does  in  truth  deserve  it — every  word. 

We  may  in  a  spirit  of  hearty  approval  borrow 
the  language  of  one  of  the  most  discriminating 
of  the  speakers,  who  thus  felicitously  sums  up 
the  leading  characteristics  that  in  his  opinion 
entitle  the  late  chief  justice  to  be  classed  among 
the  most  eminent  of  American  jurists : 

Thus  reviewing  his  judicial  attainments,  I  think  that  with 
out  danger  of  undeserved  eulogy  we  may  say  that  the  minute 
accuracy  of  his  knowledge,  his  capacity  for  hard  work,  his 
quick  apprehension  of  the  issue  of  a  case,  his  sound  judgment 
and  his  convincing  expression  of  his  conclusions,  entitle  him 
to  rank  among  the  great  lawyers  of  the  nation.* 

*  Mr.  William  B.  King,  Appendix,  page  xxxiii,  post. 


139 

That  Mr.  Richardson  of  the  Middlesex  bar 
developed  into  a  model  judge  of  probate,  and 
later  became  an  excellent  judge  of  a  federal  court, 
— rose  to  be  its  chief  justice  and  administered 
that  responsible  office  with  unparallelled  skill 
and  ability,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when  we 
reflect  that  it  was  the  strict  rule  of  his  life  that 
when  upon  the  bench  he  should  never  attempt 
to  be  anything  else  than  a  judge.  His  aim  was 
single.  It  was  with  a  far-seeing  design  that  he 
had  limited  to  himself  the  scope  of  his  exertions. 
Within  those  self-imposed  limits  we  may  plainly 
see  his  to  have  been  indeed  a 

Life  of  endless  toil  and  endeavor. 

All  his  days  he  was  a  student  of  law.  Aside 
from  something  of  current  political  measures,  he 
appears  to  have  cared  for  little  in  the  world 
around  him  except  the  tribunal  in  which  he  sat, 
and  its  steady  growth  and  development  in  the 
public  favor.  He  concentrated  all  his  powers 
upon  the  judicial  office.  A  will  of  iron  confined 
his  efforts  to'  that  circle  within  which  it  was  his 
ambition  to  excel.  Broad  and  general  culture  is 
an  almost  necessary  equipment  for  a  judge ;  and 
the  chief  justice  did  not  shut  his  eyes  to  the  fact, 
but  the  test  he  first  applied  to  a  subject  was,  is  it 
immediately  useful? 

Such  a  course  of  conduct  as  this,  pursued  year 
after  year,  by  a  man  of  native  ability,  could 


140 

hardly  fail  of  its  object ;  and  it  made  of  William 
Adams  Richardson,  if  nothing  else,  a  superb 
master  of  all  the  varied  duties  of  his  office.  So 
complete  a  dedication  of  self  to  the  accomplish 
ment  of  one  supreme  end  is  rarely  witnessed, 
except  in  the  lives  of  men  who  possess  elements 
of  greatness.  His  triumph,  for  it  was  a  triumph, 
came  as  the  reward  of  sheer  grit  and  perseverance. 

As  might  be  expected,  his  time  was  engrossed 
in  the  study  of  legal  questions,  leaving  little 
opportunity  for  the  enjoyment  of  general  litera 
ture,  or  the  fine  arts.*  The  habit  of  persistent 
industry  in  the  line  of  his  chosen  occupation  so 
grew  upon  him  that  he  found  his  happiness  only 
there.  What  he  called  relaxation  took  the  shape 
of  labor  given  to  the  compilation  of  statutes,  or 
by  way  of  indexing,  or  other  like  employment,  of 
a  nature  not  far  removed  from  the  severer  duties 
of  the  judicial  office.  He  would,  for  example, 
be  up  at  early  day-light,  working  on  the  statutes, 
and  deem  it  a  species  of  leisure  entertainment. 

This  capacity  and  liking  for  work  in  one 
direction  is  reflected  in  his  writings  —  most  of 
which  are  opinions  announcing  a  decision  of  the 
court.  While  his  style  is  clearness  itself,  a  cer 
tain  precision  void  of  any  attempt  at  ornament 

*It  could  not  be  truthfully  said  of  him,  as  it  was  of  his  class-mate 
Sprague,  that  "  He  breathed  the  still  air  of  delightful  studies"  ;  except 
that  it  was  an  incomparable  delight  to  Richardson  to  study  the  intri 
cacies  of  the  statutes. 


141 

or  illustration  reminds  us  that  the  writer  is 
rather  intent  upon  reaching  a  conclusion  by  a 
sound  logical  process,  than  to  attract  or  enlighten 
the  reader.  There  are  no  allusions  that  indicate 
an  acquaintance  with  the  great  writers;  no 
lingering  fondness  for  the  classics;  110  glimpse  of 
a  world  of  fancy  beyond  that  in  which  men  carry 
on  traffic,  and  disagree  as  to  their  rights. 

Let  it  not  be  inferred  from  what  is  here  said 
that  the  subject  of  our  remarks  was  uncompan 
ionable.  On  the  contrary,  though  he  eschewed 
general  society  and  the  club,  he  was  of  kindly 
disposition,  most  considerate  of  others,  tactful 
and  responsive  to  the  friendship  of  his  intimates, 
and  the  courtesies  of  every-day  fellowship.  In 
deed,  there  were  few  men  with  whom  it  was  a 
greater  pleasure  to  converse.  He  spoke  only  of 
subjects  that  he  knew  something  about,  and  he 
was  ready  to  listen  attentively  to  those  who  were 
perhaps  better  informed  than  he.  A  good  talker, 
of  animated  manner  and  pleasing  voice,  he  never 
committed  the  mistake  of  being  disputatious,  or  of 
displaying  a  readiness  to  monopolize  the  con 
versation. 

One  of  his  strong  points  was  a  tenacious 
memory,  and  those  who  were  privileged  to  hear 
him  talk  of  the  judges  and  lawyers  of  the  earlier 
day  knew  with  what  relish  he  could  tell  an  anec 
dote,  or  illustrate  a  phase  of  character.  He  had 


142 

schooled  himself  to  be  accurate,  and  he  liked  to 
have  others  accurate  in  what  they  said.  Not  in 
frequently  he  would  allude  to  some  prevailing 
error,  in  popular  usage,  and  do  his  part  towards 
correcting  it.  Himself  methodical  and  orderly, 
he  wanted  to  see  others  careful  in  these  respects. 
What  keenness  of  observation  he  possessed  has 
already  been  alluded  to;  it  seemed  as  if  nothing 
could  escape  him.* 

It  was  the  misfortune  of  Chief  Justice  Richard 
son  that  he  was  not  a  man  of  a  large  and  com 
manding  presence.  He  was  of  medium  height 
and  size.  In  mixed  company  his  manner  was 
somewhat  retiring  and  unobtrusive.  Whether 
this  was  due  to  innate  modesty,  or  was  the 
result  of  an  acquired  liking  for  the  contempla 
tion  of  the  stud}7,  one  may  not  easily  divine.  But 


*  Take,  for  instance,  the  court  and  bar :  he  used  to  note  any  peculiar 
ity  in  those  who  practiced  before  him.  He  said  of  a  certain  member  of 
the  bar  that  he  had  a  habit  of  bringing  a  book  down  violently  upon  the 
table,  making  a  great  noise.  Another  gentleman  had  a  peculiarity  of 
gesture  that  was  annoying.  Said  the  chief  justice,  "He  is  a  young 
man  of  talent,  arid  sometimes  I  have  thought  I  would  speak  to  him  about 
it.  It  is  a  sweep  of  one  arm,  very  unpleasant  and  ungraceful  to  witness." 
"Another  member  of  the  bar,"  the  judge  continued,  "has  a  habit  of 
rising  upon  his  toes  when  he  is  speaking,  a  practice  by  no  means  pleasing 
to  the  bench."  So,  of  a  writer's  style:  Upon  one  occasion  somebody 
spoke  of  a  lawyer  who  constantly  used  the  word  "  practically."  Another 
of  the  company  remarked  of  a  practitioner  that  he  seldom  went  far  in 
oral  argument  without  employing  the  word  "thereupon."  Chief  Justice 
Richardson  said  if  the  opinions  of  Chief  Justice  Bigelow  of  Massachusetts 
were  examined  it  would  be  found  that  he  was  much  given  to  bringing 
in  the  word  "  familiar."  "Upon  familiar  principles  "  is  a  phrase  fre 
quently  recurring  with  him.  These  are  trivial  illustrations  of  Chief 
Justice  Richardson's  habit  of  noticing  slight  peculiarities. 


143 

with  all  his  acute  power  of  observation,  his  tact 
and  his  knowledge  of  human  nature,  he  was  not 
disposed  to  mingle  freely  with  others,  or  take  a 
prominent  part  in  the  company  in  which  he  hap 
pened  to  be  thrown.  This  trait  may  be  consid 
ered  unfortunate,  because  without  doubt  it  con 
tributed  to  a  public  estimation  of  his  abilities  and 
his  talents  that  was  below  his  deserts.  Many  a 
person  may  have  been  in  his  company  for  a  brief 
season,  and  come  away  with  an  altogether  inade 
quate  impression  of  his  real  ability. 

A  fair  conception  of  how  the  chief  justice 
looked  may  be  gained  from  the  excellent  engrav 
ing  by  Stuart,  of  Boston,  that  faces  the  title  page. 
It  is  proper  to  add,  however,  that  the  photograph 
from  which  it  is  copied,  being  of  early  date,  has 
not  reproduced  those  lines  of  thought  furrowing 
the  brow  which,  in  the  recollection  of  those  who 
knew  him  while  he  was  chief  justice,  had  im 
parted  to  his  looks  a  perceptibly  greater  degree 
of  intellectual  force  than  is  here  portrayed.  His 
was  one  of  those  countenances  that  light  up 
and  beam  with  animation,  when  not  in  repose. 
There  was  something  cheery  about  him  when  you 
met  him  and  spoke  to  him.* 

He  was  a  familiar  figure  for  many  years  in  the 

*  Of  portraits  there  is  one  in  the  Treasury  by  Stagg  (formerly  of  Boston) 
and  a  good  piece  of  work  by  Robert  Hinckley,  of  Washington.  A  less  sat 
isfactory  work  by  an  Italian  artist  hangs  in  the  court  room  of  the  Court 
of  Claims  at  Washington. 


144 

streets  of  Washington — on  foot,  for  he  preferred 
walking  to  riding. 

In  his  family  relations  he  was  kind  and  affec 
tionate — a  most  devoted  father.  To  his  grand 
children  he  was  particularly  attentive.  He  would 
himself  buy  their  presents  at  Christmas  and  at 
other  times,  going  to  great  pains  to  select  articles 
that  he  knew  would  give  them  pleasure.  His  prac 
tical  turn  of  mind  is  evinced  by  the  fact  that  he 
left  behind  him  a  letter  for  his  grandson,  with 
instructions  that  the  seal  shall  be  broken,  and  the 
letter  read  by  him,  on  reaching  his  one  and  twen 
tieth  birthday. 

Of  his  friendships,  it  may,  with  truth,  be  said, 
that  no  man  prized  a  friend  more  highly,  or  was 
more  loyal  in  his  attachments.  The  circumstance 
that  his  taste  withdrew  him  largely  from  general 
society  rendered  him  all  the  more  sensible  how 
precious  was  the  possession  of  a  true  friend. 
Many  of  his  more  intimate  associates  he  had  out 
lived.  The  relation  between  him  and  his  hon 
ored  predecessor  in  the  Treasury,  continuing  un 
broken  as  it  did  for  so  many  years,  is  beautifully 
illustrated  by  the  spectacle  of  the  survivor  stand 
ing  in  the  presence  of  his  juniors  and  paying 
tribute  in  words  of  chastened  eloquence  to  the 
memory  of  the  departed. 

The  great  statesman  of  England  who  this  sum 
mer  (1898)  has  been  laid  to  rest  enjoins  it  in  his 


145 

will  that  no  laudatory  inscription  be  placed  over 
him.  In  a  like  spirit  it  would  have  been  the 
wish  of  William  Adams  Richardson  that  the 
record  of  what  he  has  accomplished,  with  no  word 
of  praise  thereon,  be  left  to  speak  for  him.  It 
may  chance,  however,  that  a  solitary  copy  of 
these  pages  shall  escape  the  ravages  of  time,  and 
convey  to  some  curious  reader,  years  after  all  the 
actors  of  this  period  have  long  been  asleep,  some 
knowledge  of  the  events  recited  here.  If  he 
would  care  to  learn  what  form  of  words  might 
best  sum  up  the  aspirations  and  the  achievements 
of  him  in  whose  memory  this  brief  story  has  been 
told,  let  him  know  the  simple  truth,  "He  was 
content  to  be  useful." 


APPENDIX 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    BAR 
AND  OF  THE    COURT 


.   MEETING  OF  THE  BAR. 

A  meeting  of  the  Bar  of  the  Court  of  Claims, 
called  by  a  Committee  of  the  Bar,  was  held  in  the 
court  room,  at  eleven  o'clock  of  the  forenoon  of 
Friday,  2oth  November,  1896.  The  attendance 
was  unusually  large.  In  calling  the  meeting  to 
order  Mr.  Assistant  Attorney-General  Dodge,  speak 
ing  for  the  Committee,  said  : 

Upon  so  impressive  an  event  as  the  death  of  the 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  before  which  we  practice, 
especially  when  that  event,  as  now,  breaks  an  asso 
ciation  between  counsel  and  judiciary  extending 
through  the  larger  part  of  a  generation,  it  is  meet 
and  proper  that  we  should  pause  in  our  struggles  to 
testify  to  each  other  our  memories  of  the  one  who 
has  gone  from  among  us,  to  note  those  qualities 
which  have  won  from  us  confidence  and  affection. 

We  have  among  us  one  distinguished  by  an  in 
timacy  of  association  with  the  deceased,  extra 
ordinary  in  its  character,  an  intimacy  in  professional 
life,  in  official  life  and  in  close  personal  friendship, 
which  has  extended  through  a  period  longer  than 
the  lives  of  most  of  us.  It  has  seemed  to  the  Com 
mittee,  and  it  seems  to  me  most  eminently  proper 
that  I  should  ask  that  associate  in  profession,  fellow 
in  official  life  and  warm  personal  friend  of  our  Chief 
Justice,  to  preside  over  us.  I  therefore  present  to 


iv 

you  the  name  of  the  Honorable  George  S.  Bout  well 
to  be  the  presiding  officer  of  this  meeting. 

Mr.  Bout  well,  accordingly,  was  chosen  to  preside. 
On  motion  of  Mr.  John  W.  Douglass,  Mr.  Archibald 
Hopkins  was  elected  Secretary. 

Upon  the  motion  of  Mr.  Maury  the  Chairman  ap 
pointed  the  following  gentlemen  as  a  Committee  to 
withdraw  and  report  such  action  as  might  seem 
suitable  :  Messrs.  William  A.  Maury,  Joshua  Eric 
Dodge,  John  W.  Douglass,  W.  H.  Robeson,  George 
A.  King,  Frank  W.  Hackett  and  Alexander  Porter 
Morse. 

The  Committee,  after  having  retired  for  a  brief 
season,  returned,  when  Mr.  Maury  said  : 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  directed  by  the  Committee 
to  make  the  report  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  and 
which,  with  the  permission  of  the  meeting,  I  will 
now  proceed  to  read  : 

The  death  of  Chief  Justice  Richardson  brings  to 
mind  Lord  Coke's  remark,  adopted  from  Seneca, 
with  reference  to  the  death  of  Littleton,  that  "when 
a  great,  learned  man  (who  is  long  in  making)  dieth, 
much  learning  dieth  with  him."  So  true  is  it  that 
the  parsimony  which  saves  to  earth  the  smallest 
atom  of  our  dust  has  no  place  in  the  realm  of  the 
spiritual.  It  becomes,  therefore,  an  office  which  we 
owe  not  only  to  the  great  dead,  but  to  ourselves,  to 
commemorate  the  qualities  which  made  them  great, 
that,  at  least,  the  remembrance  of  those  qualities 
may  not  also  perish  from  the  world,  and  with  it  the 
incentive  of  great  examples. 

The   late   Chief  Justice  was  one  of  the  strong 


influences  which  Massachusetts  has  contributed  to 
the  Union,  and  which  have  entered  largely  into  the 
warp  and  woof  of  the  National  greatness. 

Duty  and  usefulness  were  the  twin  stars  that 
guided  his  career.  Under  their  influence  his  pains 
taking,  laborious  diligence  seemed  to  have  no  limit 
but  that  of  his  capacity  of  endurance.  In  whatever 
he  undertook  there  was  completeness  of  execution. 
His  revision  of  the  statutes  of  Massachusetts,  and 
his  supplemental  revision  of  the  statutes  of  the 
United  States,  earned  him  general  commendation ; 
and  the  same  fidelity  of  performance  marked  his 
administration  of  the  offices  of  Secretary  and  Assist 
ant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

But  it  was  in  the  Court  of  Claims  that  his  greatest 
work  was  done.  There  he  presided  to  the  entire 
acceptance  of  the  bar  and  the  public,  and,  if  possible, 
strengthened  the  hold  of  the  Court  on  the  general 
confidence. 

The  terseness,  accuracy  and  thoroughness  of  his 
judgments  proved  his  fitness  for  the  judicial  sta 
tion,  while  his  dispatch  and  administrative  talent 
gave  him  admirable  efficiency  as  Chief  Justice. 
To  sum  up  his  character  as  judge,  he  never  delayed 
justice  to  any,  nor  did  he  remove  a  single  landmark 
of  the  law. 

Resolved,  That  the  Bar  of  the  Court  of  Claims 
deplore  the  death  of  Chief  Justice 
Richardson  as  a  serious  loss  to  the 
National  judicature;  that  they  recog 
nize  in  him  an  upright,  able  and 


learned  Magistrate,  who  contributed 
much  to  the  establishment  of  justice  in 
the  land,  and  that  they  hold  in  grate 
ful  remembrance  the  courtesy  and 
consideration  he  uniformly  extended 
to  them. 

That  the  Chairman  is  hereby  requested 
to  furnish  the  Assistant  Attorney- 
General  in  charge  of  the  Government's 
business  in  the  Court  of  Claims  with 
a  copy  of  these  proceedings,  with  the 
request  that  he  will  present  the  same 
to  the  Court,  and  move  that  they  be 
entered  in  its  minutes. 

That  the  Chairman  is  hereby  requested 
to  transmit  a  copy  of  these  proceed 
ings  to  the  family  of  the  deceased, 
with  an  expression  of  the  sympathy  of 
this  meeting. 


REMARKS    OF    MR.    WILLIAM  A.    MAURY. 

Mr.  Chairman :  Before  submitting  the  motion, 
which  I  now  make,  for  the  adoption  of  the  Report, 
I  feel  that  I  must  allow  myself  the  gratification  of 
saying  a  few  words,  and  then  give  way  to  other 
gentlemen  who  are  more  competent  to  speak  of  the 
late  Chief  Justice. 

As  one  who  had  the  honor  of  intimate  relations 
with  the  Chief  Justice,  I  can  truly  say  that  his  death 
has  left  a  wound  which  time  will  scarcely  heal.  You 
can  bear  me  witness,  Sir,  that  those  relations,  in 
which  you  participated  also,  taught  the  lesson  of  the 
value  and  the  beauty  of  friendship  with  more  effect 
than  what  Cicero  and  the  other  moralists  together 
have  written  on  the  subject ;  the  difference  being 
between  virtue  in  energy  and  virtue  as  an  abstrac 
tion. 

You  also,  Sir,  have,  in  common  with  myself,  felt 
the  elevating  and  helpful  effect  of  contemplating  his 
even,  tranquil  nature,  his  long-suffering  patience  and 
perfect  charity,  his  affectionate  loyalty  and  sym 
pathy,  his  refusal  to  harbor  resentments,  and  his 
uniform  disposition  to  overcome  evil  with  good. 

But  now,  Sir,  ' '  when  anything  lieth  on  the  heart 
to  oppress  it,"  we  shall  look  in  vain  for  the 
particeps  curarum  to  whom  we  have  long  been  ac 
customed  to  turn,  and  shall  miss  the  grasp  of  his 
vanished  hand. 


Need  I  say  here,  in  the  midst  of  all  these  wit 
nesses,  that  the  late  Chief  Justice  possessed  admir 
able  qualities  for  the  Bench?  He  was  just,  able, 
learned,  laborious  and  prompt.  He  worked  with 
facility,  and  with  such  energy  and  concentration, 
that  formidable  difficulties  seemed  to  melt  away 
before  him. 

But  I  must  not  omit  to  refer  to  another  valuable 
distinguishing  trait,  that  love  of  accuracy  which  was 
to  be  seen  in  everything  he  did.  I  was  particularly 
struck  with  it  about  a  year  ago,  when  he  was  pre 
paring  an  article,  for  some  periodical,  on  the  occa 
sionally  mooted  question,  whether  the  presiding 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  should  be  styled  ''Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States,"  or  "  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States."  A  some 
what  similar  question  having,  in  late  years,  arisen 
in  England,  with  regard  to  the  proper  title  of  the 
IvOrd  Chief  Justice  there,  his  restless  desire  to  get 
to  the  bottom  of  the  subject  and  exhaust  every 
possible  source  of  information  led  him  into  corres 
pondence  with  Lord  Russell.  Need  I  add,  Sir,  that, 
by  the  time  he  completed  the  article,  nothing  re 
mained  to  be  said  that  could  be  said  on  the  subject  ? 
It  was  this  habit  of  accuracy  that  prevented  him 
from  slurring  over  his  work,  and  gave  a  satisfactory 
completeness  to  whatever  he  did,  whether  it  was, 
great  or  small. 

His  experience  as  Secretary  and  Assistant  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  was  useful  to  him  as  a  judge, 
rendering  him  the  better  qualified  to  add  to  the  mass 
of  valuable  learning  to  be  found  in  the  Court  of 


V 


LV 


Claims  Reports,  in  connection  with  a  large  variety 
of  questions  affecting  the  administration  of  the  Exec 
utive  Department  of  the  Government  in  its  various 
branches. 

The  thoroughness  of  his  supplemental  revisions 
of  the  Statutes  of  the  United  States,  and  the  marks 
they  bear  of  painful  labor  and  research,  intensifies 
my  regret  that  he  did  not  accomplish  a  general 
revision  of  the  whole  body  of  the  written  law  of  the 
Federal  Government. 

During  his  last  illness,  his  power  of  will  supported 
him  while  he  was  completing  the  index  of  the 
current  number  of  the  second  volume  of  his  Supple 
mental  Revision. 

Too  much  can  not  be  said  in  his  praise  for  under 
taking  that  laborious  and  exacting  work  when  age, 
with  its  infirmities,  had  begun  to  tell  upon  him. 
The  remuneration  was  small,  a  mere  pittance,  and 
the  sole  inducement  that  impelled  him  to  put  this 
new  burden  on  his  already  bending  shoulders  was 
the  unquenchable  desire  to  be  useful  in  every  way 
he  could. 

I  trust,  Sir,  that  you,  or  some  other  competent 
hand,  will  be  invited  to  prepare  a  sketch  of  the  life 
and  labors  of  the  late  Chief  Justice,  to  accompany 
the  next  volume  of  the  Supplemental  Revision, 
when  it  shall  be  completed,  that  his  fellow-country 
men  may  know  how  much  they  owe  to  this  man 
of  useful  toil. 

The  last  time  I  saw  him,  which  was  a  very  few 
days  before  his  death,  his  countenance  shone  with 
an  extraordinary  brightness,  I  was  going  to  say 


effulgence,  which  I  had  never  observed  before,  and 
which  I  could  not  but  think  was  the  joyful  expres 
sion  of  his  pure  soul  as  the  hour  of  its  release  drew 
near.  Thus  we  see  with  what  cheerfulness  the  mor 
tal  puts  on  immortality  who  has  the  testimony  of  a 
good  conscience  and  is  in  perfect  peace  with  all 
the  world. 

Mr.  Chairman,  our  dear  friend  has  left  an  example 
which  we  may  hope  will  "  reach  a  hand  far  thro'  all 
years"  with  its  lesson  of  "nobly  to  do,  nobly  to 
die." 


xi 


REMARKS  OF  MRS.  BElyVA  A.  LOCKWOOD. 

Mr.  Chairman  :  I  feel  it  a  duty  imposed  upon  me 
to-day,  to  say  that  I  cordially  agree  with  the  resolu 
tions  that  have  been  presented,  and  that  I  heartily 
endorse  the  same.  I  have  been  a  member  of  this 
Bar  for  seventeen  years,  and  it  seems  very  pertinent 
that  I  should  add  my  testimony  to  the  uniform 
courtesy,  kindness,  and  to  the  justness,  to  the  indefat 
igable  work  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  this  Court,  who 
has  always  been  accessible,  always  approachable, 
whether  on  the  bench  or  in  chambers.  This  has 
been  particularly  impressed  upon  my  mind  for  the 
reason  that  I  have  recently  been  requested  to  testify 
to  a  prominent  historian  of  Belgium  and  Germany, 
as  to  the  treatment  which  women  receive  in  this 
country  from  the  Bench  and  Bar,  and  I  then  most 
cordially  testified  as  to  their  uniform  courtesy. 

I  most  heartily  give  my  testimony  to  the  uniform 
kindness,  to  the  fairness,  and  to  the  achievements 
of  Chief  Justice  Richardson,  the  late  deceased. 


xii 


REMARKS  OF  MR.  JOHN  W.  DOUGLASS. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  the  late  Chief  Justice 
was  when  he  became  the  First  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  under  Mr.  Boutwell.  After  he  had 
succeeded  to  the  Secretaryship,  I  saw  him  daily,  as 
my  position  of  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue 
required  constant  consultation  with  the  head  of  the 
Department. 

He  was  affable  and  easy  to  approach  on  business, 
evidently  being  animated  by  the  desire  to  do  his 
duty  promptly  and  with  an  eye  single  to  the  good  of 
the  public  service. 

If  I  mistake  not,  it  was  while  he  was  Secretary 
that  the  radical  change  in  the  machinery  of  the  In 
ternal  Revenue  system  was  inaugurated,  by  which 
change  some  eleven  or  twelve  hundred  of  the  as 
sessing  officers  were  dispensed  with,  and  the  assess 
ment  of  taxes  transferred  to  the  main  office  in  the 
Department.  This  reform  in  the  civil  service,  though 
it  struck  off  a  large  number  of  the  political  friends 
of  the  administration  in  every  State  of  the  Union, 
had  his  hearty  support,  and  the  result  justified  his 
interest  in  the  movement. 

When  I  left  the  Treasury  Department  in  the  spring 
of  1874,  and  returned  to  professional  occupation, 
the  Judge  was  on  this  bench.  Here,  also,  he  was  al 
ways  courteous,  attentive  and  patient ;  and  his  labors 


xiii 

were  unremitting,  as  was  his  habit  whenever  and 
at  whatever  employed. 

I  met  him  once  while  he  was  engaged  on  the  digest 
of  the  United  States  Statutes,  and,  in  reply  to  my 
inquiry,  how  he  found  time  enough  outside  of  his 
judicial  duties  to  perform  the  other  work,  he  replied 
that  the  work  on  the  statutes  was  largely  done  be 
tween  daylight  and  breakfast  time.  While  the 
large  majority  of  us  were  in  bed,  he  was  probably  up 
and  busy  with  his  additional  labors.  A  life  of  well- 
put  activity,  as  his  was,  is  a  blessing  to  the  country 
that  enjoys  it,  and  a  just  pride  and  joy  to  associated 
friends. 

On  another  occasion,  a  little  while  after  the  Bar 
meeting  in  honor  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  Drake,  in 
conversation  with  Judge  Richardson  about  that  occa 
sion,  he  said  rather  pathetically  :  "  Well,  Douglass, 
some  of  these  days  you  will  be  at  a  meeting  of  the 
kind  for  me. ' '  I  replied,  ' '  Whenever  that  happens, 
Judge,  the  speeches  and  resolutions  will  be  such  that 
your  family  and  friends  will  rejoice  in  them."  He 
smiled  and  we  parted  soon  after. 

He  was  a  good  and  faithful  servant  from  first  to 
last,  in  every  place  that  he  held,  and  is  now  reaping 
no  doubt  the  promised  reward. 


xiv 


REMARKS   OF  MR.   JOHN   B.    COTTON. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren  :  Interesting  and 
instructive  as  it  may  be  to  review  the  earlier  years 
of  Chief  Justice  Richardson,  during  the  long  period 
in  which  he  was  judge  of  probate  and  insolvency  in 
the  great  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and  in  its 
most  active  and  populous  centre  ;  his  part  in  revising 
and  editing  statutes  ;  duties  which  laid  the  founda 
tion  for  similar  work  in  a  broader  and  national  field, 
the  fruits  of  which  every  counselor  practicing  in  state 
or  national  tribunals  enjoys ;  his  connection  with 
that  great  executive  department  of  the  Government, 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  where  he  imbibed 
a  varied  knowledge  so  essential  to  the  right  solution 
of  intricate  problems  in  this  Court  —  it  is  as  Justice 
and  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Claims  that  I 
knew  him  best,  and  in  this  sphere  I  shall  speak  of 
his  connection  with  the  Bench  and  Bar. 

I  hazard  nothing  in  saying  that,  of  the  multitude 
of  tribunals,  from  that  of  the  most  simple  and  lim 
ited  jurisdiction  in  the  State  to  that  of  the  highest  in 
the  nation,  there  is  none  of  which  the  more  than 
seventy  millions  of  our  people  have  so  little  knowl 
edge  of  the  character,  the  scope  of  investigation,  of 
the  practice  and  decisions,  as  that  of  the  Court  of 
Claims. 


XV 

Its  growth  for  almost  half  a  century  has  been  pre 
eminently  an  evolution.  So  silently  has  this  devel 
opment  been  that,  notwithstanding  the  importance 
the  Court  has  attained,  outside  a  limited  circle  of 
practitioners  its  real  value  is  either  unknown  or  un 
appreciated.  One  of  the  distinctive  features  of  our 
federal  system  is  that  it  has  relations,  not  with  States, 
but  with  the  citizen  personally.  Our  English  ances 
try  considered  the  King  the  "fountain  of  justice." 
The  ordinary  tribunals  were  insufficient  to  supply  in 
many  instances  remedial  justice,  and  an  innate  sense 
of  right  found  expression  in  the  petition  to  the  sov 
ereign. 

That  could  hardly  be  called  the  most  perfect  form 
of  government  in  whose  constitution  could  not  be 
found  some  germ  whose  unfolding  would  give  the 
citizen  a  means  of  obtaining  and  enforcing  rights  of 
property  and  contract.  This  he  has  found  in  the 
Court  of  Claims.  I  am  a  firm  believer  that  the  time 
will  come  when,  by  a  still  further  evolution,  torts 
done  a  citizen  by  the  Government  will  have  a  more 
certain  source  of  remedy  than  the  legislative  branch 
of  the  Government. 

This  is  not  the  occasion  to  trace  the  steps  by  which 
the  Government  has  created  this  tribunal.  Its  his 
tory  is  portrayed  in  one  of  the  last  works  of  our  late 
Chief  Justice. 

That  Chief  Justice  Richardson  appreciated  the  phi 
losophy  upon  which  the  Court  of  Claims  is  founded 
is  seen  from  his  quotation  of  the  words  of  that  emi 
nent  lawyer,  Charles  O'  Conor.  ' '  The  Court  itself, ' ' 
he  says,  ' '  is  the  first  born  of  a  new  judicial  era.  As 


a  judicial  tribunal,  it  is  not  only  new  in  the  instance, 
it  is  also  new  in  principle.  .  .  .  Prior  to  the 
institution  of  this  court,  all  rights  as  against  the  na 
tion  were  imperfect  in  the  legal  sense  of  the  term  ; 
every  duty  of  the  nation  was  a  duty  of  imperfect  ob 
ligation.  There  was  no  j  udicial  power  capable  of  de 
claring  either  ;  no  private  person  possessed  the  means 
of  enforcing  the  one  or  coercing  the  other.  .  .  . 
But  we  are  authorized  to  look  higher  than  the  mere 
convenience  of  suitors  and  the  dispatch  of  public  bus 
iness.  Enlightened  patriotism  will  contemplate 
other  and  more  important  consequences.  Caprice 
can  no  longer  control.  Here  equity,  morality,  honor 
and  good  conscience  must  be  practically  applied  to 
the  determination  of  claims,  and  the  actual  authority 
of  these  principles  over  governmental  action  ascer 
tained,  declared  and  illustrated  in  permanent  and 
abiding  forms.  As  step  by  step,  in  successive  decis 
ions,  you  shall  have  ascertained  the  duties  of  Gov 
ernment  towards  the  citizen,  fixed  their  precise 
limits,  upon  sound  principles,  and  armed  the  claimant 
with  means  of  securing  their  enforcement,  a  code 
will  grow  up  giving  effect  to  many  rights  not  here 
tofore  practically  acknowledged. ' ' 

Engrossed,  brethren,  in  what  we  are  pleased  to  term 
the  practical  duties  of  our  profession,  we  are  too  apt 
to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  we  best  honor  it  by  ever 
keeping  in  view  the  equally  high  obligation  of  build 
ing  to  the  ideal  system. 

Such  was  the  judicial  organization,  then  and  still 
imperfectly  reaching  upward,  to  which  William  A. 
Richardson  was  called  as  a  Justice  in  1874,  and  of 


acvn 

which  he  became  Chief  Justice  eleven  years  later. 
His  advent  was  in  a  most  fortunate  period  of  his 
life  ;  not  too  old  to  have  lost  ambition,  not  too  young 
to  fail  to  realize  the  importance  of  his  position.  The 
years  during  which  in  his  native  State  he  had  pre 
sided  in  a  court, — the  creation  of  statute  rather  than 
of  common  law, — and  yet  requiring  a  knowledge  of  the 
common  law  for  successful  administration,  were  in 
some  respects  a  preparation  for  a  court  whose  vital 
breath  is  drawn  from  statutes,  and  yet  so  compre 
hensive  in  its  jurisdiction  that  one  unskilled  in  the 
learning  and  practice  of  the  common  law,  can  be 
neither  a  useful  judge  nor  a  successful  practitioner. 

Judge  Richardson  brought  to  the  Court  something 
quite  as  essential  as  the  knowledge  thus  acquired;  a 
practical  knowledge  of  structure,  traditions  and  prac 
tices  of  one  of  the  great  departments  of  the  Govern 
ment,  as  well  as  an  acquaintance  with  those  of  all  the 
others. 

He  brought  a  "faculty  of  nice  discrimination," 
methodical  arrangement,  natural  as  well  as  acquired 
by  his  already  long  experience  in  the  study  and  com 
pilation  of  statutes.  I  am  aware  how  easily,  on  an 
occasion  like  this,  we  can  pass  from  the  regions  of 
cold  criticism  to  those  which  are  warmed  by  our 
affections.  But  I  fully  believe  it  would  be  difficult 
to  conceive  a  mind  better  prepared  for  the  duties  of 
Judge  of  the  Court  of  Claims  than  that  possessed  by 
William  A.  Richardson,  on  his  advent  to  this  Bench. 

My  personal  recollection  of  Judge  Richardson 
dates  from  the  time  I  became  an  officer  of  this  Court. 
But  my  knowledge  of  him  is  founded  not  alone  on 


xviii 

personal  intercourse.  It  is  gained  from  the  spirit 
which  pervades  and  gives  tone  to  the  decisions,  the 
practice  and  traditions  of  the  Court  of  Claims  ;  for 
it  is  old  enough  to  have  traditions.  His  influence 
is  in  all  of  them.  From  these  sources  I  am  able, 
to  my  own  mind  at  least,  to  answer  satisfactorily 
what,  in  part,  ought  to  be  said  of  the  record  of  his 
life. 

Predominant  in  Judge  Richardson's  life,  was  an 
intense  devotion  to  the  welfare  and  upbuilding  of 
the  Court  projected  to  bring  about  those  conditions 
which  I  have  quoted  from  the  eloquent  words  of 
Charles  O' Conor.  So  earnest  was  this  interest, 
that  those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  possess  his 
confidence,  knew  that  at  times  he  was  apprehensive 
that  by  some  caprice  the  power  that  gave  it  birth 
would  recall  its  life.  The  apprehension  was  sincere 
but  unfounded.  The  Court  of  Claims  may  be  en 
larged  to  greater  usefulness  but  not  destroyed. 
These  apprehensions  can  only  be  accounted  for  by 
his  jealous  devotion. 

This  devotion  has  been  shown  in  other  directions. 
Where  in  the  history  of  courts  can  we  point  to  a 
judge  whose  life  was  more  exclusively  given  to  a 
single  object  than  was  Judge  Richardson's  ?  Rarely 
absent  from  his  seat  on  the  Bench,  the  few  hours 
each  week,  which  in  common  with  his  brethren  he 
gave  to  the  hearing  of  cases,  formed  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  time  occupied  by  him  in  its  duties. 
Term  time  did  not  measure  it.  The  long  vacation 
hardly  knew  a  cessation  from  his  labors.  His  opin 
ions  rendered  failed  fully  to  evidence  his  work.  The 


xix 

executive  duties  necessary  to  such  a  court,  largely 
carried  on  in  chambers,  and  imperfectly  appreciated 
by  us  as  members  of  the  Bar,  increasing  with  the 
years  of  the  Court,  were  enormous,  but  always  met 
with  a  patience,  a  careful  consideration  of  which  we 
have  little  conception.  For  more  than  twenty  years 
Judge  Richardson  literally  devoted  his  life  to  the 
work,  denying  himself  the  pleasures  which  others 
take,  and  when  he  did  break  away  from  its  routine, 
he  carried  writh  him  something  to  do  which  should, 
by  way  of  information  or  otherwise,  redound  to  the 
benefit  of  the  Court. 

Of  the  quality  of  his  work,  as  embodied  in  his 
opinions,  there  can  be  but  one  mind.  Our  views  of 
the  work  of  a  judge  may  be  as  much  prejudiced  by 
favorable  as  by  adverse  judgments.  Every  well- 
balanced  mind  will  eventually  settle  itself  aright, 
aided  by  time  and  reflection.  That  so  few  of  Judge 
Richardson's  opinions  have  been  overruled  by  the 
Supreme  Court,  is  a  deserving  tribute  from  that 
august  body.  He  watched  the  results  of  review  by 
that  Court,  not  merely  upon  his  own  opinions,  but 
those  of  all  the  members  of  his  Court,  and  had  a 
pardonable  pride  whenever  its  judgments  were 
affirmed.  When  overruled  I  have  on  occasion 
heard  him  gracefully  acquiesce  in  the  justness  of  the 
decision.  Judge  Richardson  in  his  written  opinions 
did  not  always  confine  himself  to  a  mere  statement 
of  the  facts  and  law  of  the  case.  Designedly  or 
otherwise,  his  mind  seemed  naturally  to  regard  it 
as  appropriate  in  many  cases  to  give  a  full  and  com 
plete  history  of  a  statute,  or  practice.  The  utility 


XX 

of  such  a  course  is  undoubted.  The  earlier  reports 
of  many  tribunals  have  been  in  some  degree  text 
books  for  students  of  the  law.  That  Judge  Richard 
son's  opinions  frequently  embody  his  varied  and 
extensive  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  statutes 
and  customs  of  the  Government,  is  no  slight  addition 
to  their  worth. 

How  shall  I  speak  of  his  relations  with  the  Bar  ? 
On  an  occasion  like  this  any  past  irritations  between 
the  Court  and  the  Bar,  happily  few  here,  fall  into 
merited  oblivion.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the 
cases  of  individual  attorneys,  few  compared  with 
the  aggregate  number  on  the  docket  of  the  Court  of 
Claims,  probably  exceed  that  of  any  court  in  the 
land,  if  not  in  the  world,  and  that  like  an  avalanche, 
these  cases  are  poured  down  upon  this  Bench,  one 
does  not  wonder  that  the  late  Chief  Justice,  who  so 
well  knew  how  valuable  was  time,  should  early  in  a 
hearing  seize  upon  the  vital  points  of  the  case  and 
urge  their  consideration.  Such  suggestions  were 
always  kindly  made,  and  no  right-minded  member 
of  our  Bar  ever  had  cause  to  resent  them.  Some 
times  suggestions  were  mirthful ;  they  never  had  a 
malicious  sting.  He  believed  this  a  business  Court. 
What  he  desired  was  a  clear-cut  statement  of  the 
law  and  facts  relied  on. 

The  Court  of  Claims  is  pre-eminently  patient  under 
lengthy  discussions.  Whatever  might  be  his  view 
of  the  utility  of  the  argument,  rarely  did  Chief 
Justice  Richardson  interfere  to  shorten  it.  Our 
minds  are  not  always  receptive  in  the  excitement  of 
an  argument,  and  we  often  fail  to  see  the  force  of  the 


XXI 

Court's  suggestion.  Seldom  in  such  a  case  did  Judge 
Richardson  persist.  More  often  he  allowed  us  to 
proceed  according  to  our  own  notions.  To  be 
satisfied  that  we  have  had  a  fair  hearing,  is  a  large 
factor  in  ending  litigation.  Either  designedly,  or 
from  intuition,  Judge  Richardson  acknowledged  the 
force  of  this  idea. 

He  believed  that  no  technicality  should  dispose  of 
a  case  when  possibly  a  fuller  exposition  of  its  merits 
would  decide  it  otherwise.  Until  there  was  a  com 
plete  exhaustion  of  its  merits  the  Chief  Justice  was 
unwilling  to  close  a  cause.  So  he  frequently  pointed 
out  to  counsel  the  weakness  of  their  position,  and 
allowed  them  to  strengthen  it,  if  possible.  It  is 
questionable  whether  a  closer  observance  of  some  of 
the  technical  rules  of  common  law  practice  would 
not  benefit  the  Court  and  parties  litigant.  But  to 
this  Judge  Richardson  was  opposed  in  theory  and 
practice.  Hence  his  unvarying  kindness  to  the 
members  of  the  Bar  in  all  the  details  of  business. 

I  would  not  if  I  could  disassociate  my  personal 
relations  with  the  late  Chief  Justice  from  those 
which  were  once  official.  I  want  to  give  my  tribute 
of  grateful  praise  to  him,  when,  coming  into  a  new 
and  untried  field,  I  ever  found  him  ready  to  explain 
the  practices  and  theories  of  the  Court,  so  different 
from  those  in  which  I  had  had  experience,  and  made 
smooth  many  a  path  in  an  unknown  field. 

Others  will  speak  of  his  varied  learning  on  curious 
legal  topics  ;  of  the  facility  with  which  he  wrote  of 
them,  and  of  his  relations  outside  the  Court.  But 
here  I  knew  him  best  and  of  that  I  have  spoken. 


xxii 

His  days  were  lengthened  by  much  doing.  To 
state  it  as  a  little  more  than  three  score  and  ten 
would  be  unfair  to  his  memory.  We  have  seen  him, 
brethren,  in  these  latter  days  come  into  and  go  out  of 
this  room,  battling  with  ill  health,  yet  always  assid 
uous  in  his  duties,  courteous  and  attentive.  He  has 
departed,  not  because  there  was  no  more  work  to  do, 
but  because  the  machinery,  grown  frail  with  years, 
could  not  longer  perform  its  functions.  Our  restricted 
vision  does  not  comprehend  all  he  has  wrought. 
That  it  has  been  much  we  know.  How  much,  no 
one  save  Him  whose  eye  is  all-embracing  can  tell. 


xxiii 


REMARKS   OF   MR.  GEORGE  A.  KING. 

My  acquaintance  with  Chief  Justice  Richardson 
did  not  begin  till  he  had  been  many  years  a  member 
of  the  Court  of  Claims.  Thus  his  judicial  services 
to  his  native  State,  as  also  his  career  in  the  Treasury 
Department  as  Assistant  Secretary,  and  later  as  Sec 
retary,  are  to  me  but  a  part  of  the  history  of  the 
country,  except  in  so  far  as  they  were  brought  more 
prominently  to  my  notice  through  the  interesting 
personality  of  the  Chief  Justice,  and  his  conversation 
about  his  past  life  while  occupying  these  positions — 
a  style  of  conversation  which  was  of  very  frequent 
occurrence  with  him,  as  in  later  years  he  lived  much 
in  the  past,  and  delighted  to  recall  his  busy,  young 
life,  both  as  a  judge  in  Massachusetts  and  as  a  finan 
cier  in  one  of  the  most  critical  periods  of  President 
Grant's  administration. 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  time  of  my  acquaint 
ance  with  him  he  was  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
Court.  In  such  a  tribunal  as  the  Court  of  Claims, 
where  a  personal  appearance  of  either  parties  or 
witnesses  is  of  the  rarest  occurrence,  and  where 
the  proceedings  are  conducted  wholly  between  coun 
sel  and  the  Court,  and  largely  in  writing,  there  is  no 
very  marked  difference  between  the  duties  of  the 
Chief  Justice,  and  those  of  the  other  members  of  the 


Court.  Generally  speaking,  however,  the  Chief 
Justice  is  both  the  presiding  and  the  executive  officer 
of  the  Court  As  presiding  officer,  his  personal 
manners  and  bearing  exercise  a  considerable  influ 
ence  over  the  general  tone  and  temper  of  the  tribunal, 
and  may  render  its  atmosphere  an  agreeable  one,  or 
otherwise,  to  the  members  of  the  Bar  practicing 
before  it.  In  this  particular,  Chief  Justice  Richard 
son  made  his  Court  a  decidedly  pleasant  one  in  which 
to  practice,  especially  for  the  younger  or  less  exper 
ienced  counsel  who  happened  to  come  before  it.  His 
manners  were  uniformly  suave  and  affable,  and  he 
was  always  ready  to  bear  with  patience  the  natural 
timidity  and  nervousness  of  counsel  addressing  for 
the  first  time  a  national  tribunal  whose  jurisprudence 
and  practice  occupy  so  different  a  field  from  that  of 
every  other  in  the  country,  whether  State  or  National, 
as  to  render  experience  before  other  courts  of  compar 
atively  slight  value.  At  the  same  time,  his  remark 
able  quickness  of  apprehension  made  him  impatient 
of  mere  platitudes,  and  he  was  apt  to  insist  with 
some  strictness,  though  it  never  could  be  called  asper 
ity,  upon  arguments  being  addressed  to  the  precise 
point  before  the  Court.  His  own  judicial  opinions 
are  marked  by  the  same  characteristic.  They  are 
uniformly  terse  and  direct  and  generally  confined  to 
the  precise  point  involved  in  a  case.  Where  anything 
outside  of  this  is  given,  it  is  purely  for  purposes  of 
illustration  or  analogy.  But  few  of  his  opinions  can, 
like  many  of  those  in  the  reports  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  be  read  as  complete  essays  upon  any  one 
branch  of  the  law.  Sometimes,  however,  as  in  the 


McKnight  Case,  in  the  i3th  Volume  of  the  Court  of 
Claims  Reports,  he  made  an  exception  to  this  rule ; 
and  in  that  case  the  most  complete  statement  of 
the  system  of  Treasury  accounting  ever  given  is 
made  the  basis  of  his  opinion ;  while,  five  years 
later,  his  opinion  in  the  Hodges  Case,  in  the  i8th 
Court  of  Claims  Reports,  is  a  summary  of  the 
history  of  the  Captured  and  Abandoned  Property 
Act,  and  of  the  business  done  under  it.  These, 
however,  are  somewhat  exceptional,  and  in  the  very 
few  instances  of  this  kind,  it  will  be  found  that  the 
digressions  from  the  exact  point  involved  were  usu 
ally  made  for  the  purpose  of  putting  on  record  his 
torical  facts  which  were  not  to  be  found  in  any 
standard  treatises  or  other  works  on  the  subject.  As 
more  usual  samples  of  his  judicial  method,  I  should 
name  such  opinions  as  that  in  the  Johnson  Case,  in 
the  1 4th  Volume,  on  the  Doctrine  of  Presumption  of 
Regularity  of  Official  Acts  ;  or  the  Hitchcock  Case, 
in  the  2yth  Volume,  on  the  Assignment  of  Claims 
against  the  United  States. 

His  turn  of  mind  was  eminently  practical.  For 
this  reason  he  but  rarely  placed  upon  record  a  dis 
sent  from  the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  the  Court, 
even  when  he  had  not  concurred  in  the  decision. 
He  regarded  the  decision  when  made  by  a  competent 
majority,  as  the  resolution  of  the  Court,  to  be  made 
the  basis  of  action  ;  and  which  it  were  better  not  to 
weaken  by  suggesting  even  well-founded  doubts  of 
its  correctness. 

His  mark  will  long  remain  on  the  jurisprudence 
of  the  Court ;  and  he  took  great  and  just  pride 


in  the  prominent  part  he  had  taken  in  the  evolution 
of  the  present  system  under  which  demands  against 
the  Government  are  to  the  utmost  attainable  extent 
taken  out  of  the  region  of  political  or  personal 
favoritism  and  are  brought  as  completely  within 
the  domain  of  scientific  jurisprudence  as  is  the  law 
of  real  property,  or  of  patents. 

In  politics  he  was  from  earliest  youth  a  staunch 
Whig,  and  an  ardent  Republican  from  the  very  in 
ception  of  that  party.  The  only  perceptible  influence 
of  his  political  views  upon  his  judicial  opinions  is  in 
the  broad  and  generous  view  which  he  always  took 
of  the  powers  of  the  General  Government.  There 
was  certainly  nothing  sectional  in  the  spirit  of  his 
decisions,  which  were  as  just  to  the  war  claim  of  the 
South,  or  the  Indian  depredation  of  the  West,  as  to 
the  French  Spoliation  claim  of  his  native  New  Eng 
land.  He  regarded  all  citizens  as  alike  entitled  to 
the  protection  of  the  General  Government,  and  to 
the  fulfillment  of  its  obligations  to  them,  in  whatever 
part  of  the  country  they  might  live. 

In  religion  he  was  during  all  his  life  a  strict  mem 
ber  of  the  Unitarian  communion,  and  during  his 
residence  in  Washington  was  an  active  participant 
in  the  work  of  All  Souls'  Church,  of  which  he  wras 
trustee  for  three  terms  of  three  years  each.  He  will 
be  specially  mourned  by  his  fellow-members  of  that 
Church,  where  his  regular  attendance  and  hearty 
co-operation  were  for  so  many  years  a  contribution 
to  its  welfare  and  advancement. 


REMARKS  OF  MR.  JOHN  C.  CHANEY. 

Chief  Justice  Wm.  A.  Richardson  was  among  my 
first  acquaintances  in  Washington.  He  impressed 
me  from  the  first  as  a  man  of  even  temper — a  Judge 
who  always  wanted  to  be  right.  He  was  an  inde 
fatigable  worker,  a  conscientious  judicial  executive 
officer.  His  education  was  supplemented  with 
abundant  energy  so  that  the  business  before  the 
Court  went  speedily  on. 

The  members  of  the  Bar  of  the  Court  all  recog 
nized  his  fairness  in  the  methods  and  purposes  of  the 
Court.  He  was  jealous  of  the  dignity  of  the  Court, 
which  was  a  source  of  pride  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  The  judicial  office  holds  such  a  re 
lation  to  the  affairs  of  men  that  its  dignity  is  as 
sacred  as  the  ermine  with  which  the  judge  is  clothed. 
The  Court  of  Claims  of  the  United  States  is  one  of 
the  most  important  courts  in  all  the  land.  The 
variety  of  questions  constantly  recurring,  and  the 
amounts  involved  in  the  cases  brought  in  this  court, 
make  it  a  great  tribunal  in  the  economy  of  the  Gov 
ernment.  It  is  the  people's  court. 

The  dignity  of  the  office  held  by  Mr.  Justice  Rich 
ardson  is  second  only  to  that  of  the  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  Judge 
Richardson  appreciated  this,  and  in  his  bearing  on 


XXWll 

and  off  the  bench  there  was  never  occasion  for 
unfavorable  criticism.  He  liked  responsibility.  He 
liked  work. 

Congress  has  for  years  looked  to  him  for  the  com 
pilation  and  revision  of  the  statutes  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  the  Revised  Statutes  bear  the  impress 
of  his  genius  and  his  zeal  for  a  convenient  and  ready 
reference  to  the  modifications  of  the  laws  inherited 
by  the  country. 

His  learned  associates  all  recognized  his  quick 
conception  of  the  statute  law.  While  in  legal  erudi 
tion  he  may  have  been  surpassed  by  others  who  sat 
with  him  in  counsel,  he  rarely  ever  erred  in  the  ap 
plication  of  the  law  to  an  established  statement  of 
fact. 

My  tribute  to  Justice  Richardson  is,  that  he  was 
a  man  of  wholesome  integrity  and  candid  sociability, 
a  learned,  industrious  lawyer  and  a  conscientious, 
upright  judge.  The  Bench  and  Bar  have  not 
suffered  by  his  administration  of  the  Court's 
business. 

Now  that  he  has  been  so  suddenly  called  to  his 
reward,  it  will  lead  us  all  to  a  more  kindly  consid 
eration  of  the  labor  imposed  upon  the  Bench  in  its 
search  for  the  truth,  as  revealed  by  the  laws  it  is 
called  upon  to  interpret. 

I  have  an  abiding  faith  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.  I  believe  that  this  life  is  the  nursery  where 
the  soul  is  prepared  for  transplanting  in  the  great 
orchard  of  eternity,  there  to  go  on  in  growth,  ex 
panding  and  brightening — glorifying  the  Creator  ; 
that  if  the  ledger-book  of  life  shall  unfold  more  assets 


XXIX 

than  liabilities,  the  world  has  been  made  better  by 
that  life  ;  that  if  a  man  has  been  faithful  over  a  few 
things  he  shall  be  made  ruler  over  many  things. 

Judge  Richardson  measured  up  to  his  responsibil 
ities.  The  lessons  of  his  life  are  useful  to  us,  for  in 
them  is  the  inspiration  of  duty  well  done.  The 
high  position  he  attained  is  worthy  of  all  praise  and 
is  the  precious  heritage  of  his  family  and  friends. 


REMARKS  OK   MR.    WILLIAM  B.  KING. 

The  late  Chief  Justice  Richardson  said  on  more 
than  one  occasion  that  he  considered  the  work  done 
by  him,  which  was  of  most  value  to  his  fellow- 
men,  to  be  the  revision  of  the  Statutes  of  Massachu 
setts,  undertaken  over  thirty  years  ago  ;  that  this, 
in  his  judgment,  outweighed  his  services  on  the 
bench  of  this  Court.  While  this  work,  he  said,  had 
received  no  extraordinary  amount  of  express  com 
mendation,  he  had  felt  that  it  had  served  its  purpose 
well  because  almost  no  adverse  criticisms  had  ever 
been  heard  upon  it.  He  thought  with  that  acumen 
which  always  distinguished  his  mature  judgment, 
that  the  failure  to  find  fault  was  a  higher  tribute  to 
the  merit  of  an  impersonal  work,  such  as  the  revision 
of  statutes,  than  abundantly  expressed  praise.  The 
correctness  of  this  opinion  is  strikingly  illustrated  by 
the  fact  that  more  than  three  hundred  errors  in  the 
Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States  were  found  and 
corrected  by  statute  within  a  few  years  of  the  revis 
ion,  while  many  more  have  been  pointed  out  but 
never  corrected. 

We  who  are  familiar  with  the  work  of  the  late 
Chief  Justice  in  this  Court  are  not  willing  to  accede 
to  his  estimate  of  its  value  as  secondary  to  his  earlier 
work,  but  would  rather  ascribe  his  opinion  to  the 
essential  modesty  of  his  character,  leading  him  to 
depreciate  the  importance  of  the  particular  work  in 
which  he  was  at  the  time  engaged. 


The  qualities  first  noticed  by  every  observer  as 
marking  his  work  in  this  Court  were  his  great  learn 
ing  in  matters  of  administrative  and  statutory  law, 
his  knowledge  of  the  details  of  every  case,  and  his 
untiring  industry.  These  were  always  first  spoken 
of.  Yet  I  think  that  these  are  among  the  lesser  dis 
tinctions  of  his  intellectual  character.  These  quali 
ties — industry,  knowledge  of  details  and  specialized 
learning — must  be  possessed  by  every  great  lawyer  ; 
yet  a  lawyer  may  have  them  all  and  not  be  great. 
There  are  other  qualities  possessed  by  the  late  Chief 
Justice  that  constitute  the  essentials  of  a  great  legal 
mind,  but  his  unassuming  appearance  and  his  mod 
est  manner  failed  to  thrust  upon  those  associated 
with  him,  so  prominently  as  otherwise  might  have 
been,  the  fact  that  he  had  the  highest  qualities  go 
ing  to  make  up  a  great  lawyer. 

Foremost  among  these  was  his  ability  to  discern 
the  real  point  at  issue  in  any  case.  This  is  the  cru 
cial  test  of  either  an  advocate  or  a  judge.  A  lawyer 
may  study  his  cases  for  many  days,  he  may  saturate 
himself  with  erudition,  he  may  master  even  the  mi 
nutest  details  of  a  controversy,  but  unless  he  pos 
sesses  that  rare  and  unusual  quality  of  separating 
the  chaff  from  the  grain,  of  throwing  aside  the  husk 
and  shell  and  reaching  the  kernel,  of  seeing  clearly 
the  real  point  of  a  case,  all  his  labor  is  but  gathering 
material  for  a  greater  mind  to  use.  When  we  con 
sider  the  swiftness  with  which  Chief  Justice  Rich 
ardson  seized  the  issue  in  every  case,  often  before 
counsel  had  fully  stated  it  ;  when  we  recall  that  he 
never  allowed  his  mind  to  be  diverted  from  it  during 


the  trial  ;  when  we  remember  the  courteously  con 
cealed  impatience  with  which  his  mind  received  un 
necessarily  prolonged  explanations  of  unimportant 
details,  we  realize  that  his  industry  and  learning  were 
crowned  by  the  possession  of  that  quality  which  is 
the  first  in  constituting  a  great  legal  mind. 

And  if  to  see  the  point  of  a  case  is  the  first  legal 
gift,  to  express  it  so  as  to  carry  conviction  to  others 
is  only  secondary.  Here  indeed  he  was  no  less  able. 

In  older  days,  the  charm  of  a  writer  was  thought 
to  be  the  possession  of  some  special,  yet  self-conscious, 
style.  But  the  literary  canon  of  the  future  seems  to 
be  that  the  best  use  of  language. is  that  which  leaves 
the  reader  unconscious  of  the  writer  and  impressed 
only  with  his  thought.  Summa  ars  celare  artem  has 
taken  the  place  of  all  other  rules.  It  was  this  which 
marked  the  writings  of  Chief  Justice  Richardson. 
The  first  impression  on  reading  one  of  his  opinions 
is  intellectual  conviction.  The  reasoning  advances 
by  sure  steps  to  a  correct  conclusion.  A  demonstra 
tion  in  mathematics  is  the  most  perfect  expression  of 
logical  reasoning,  and  I  think  that  his  opinions  came 
nearer  to  this  form  than  is  found  in  the  opinions  of 
any  but  a  few,  and  these  the  greatest,  judges.  In 
reading  them,  the  mind  is  kept  intent  only  upon  the 
subject,  unconscious  of  the  writer  or  of  the  style.  It 
is  only  after  they  are  carefully  examined  that  one 
realizes  the  exactness  and  conciseness  of  expression, 
and  the  clearness  of  the  reasoning  process  by  which 
the  result  is  reached.  The  appearance  of  effort  is 
entirely  lost,  yet  those  familiar  with  the  methods  of 
his  work  know  that  some  of  these  opinions  were  held 


tmder  consideration  and  amendment  for  many  suc 
cessive  months  before  reaching  their  final  form. 

United  to  these  qualities  was  one  of  the  most  val 
uable  in  a  judge,  soundness  of  judgment,  called  in 
plain  speech  sometimes  ' '  common  sense, ' '  because 
very  uncommon.  It  is  generally  the  result  of  the 
action  of  a  broadly  synthetic  mind  upon  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  all  the  facts  relating  to  the  subject. 
This  led  the  late  Chief  Justice  to  avoid  the  merely 
technical  side  of  every  case  and  to  see  its  substantial 
justice.  Therefore,  while  his  mind  moved  on  strictly 
logical  lines,  it  moved  with  a  broad  comprehension 
of  the  justice  underlying  each  case  and  of  the  rela 
tion  which  the  law  declared  in  this  particular  case 
bore  to  the  whole  body  of  law  on  the  subject.  This 
breadth  of  vision  prevented  his  judgment  from  being 
led  astray  by  technicalities  and  gave  it  that  sound 
ness  which  is  one  of  its  chief  characteristics. 

Thus  reviewing  his  judicial  attainments,  I  think 
that  without  danger  of  undeserved  eulogy  we  may 
say  that  the  minute  accuracy  of  his  knowledge,  his 
capacity  for  hard  work,  his  quick  apprehension  of 
the  issue  of  a  case,  his  sound  judgment  and  his  con 
vincing  expression  of  his  conclusions,  entitle  him 
to  rank  among  the  great  lawyers  of  the  nation. 
That  his  work  was  of  a  highly  specialized  kind, 
brought  directly  to  the  attention  of  but  a  small  class 
of  his  fellow-citizens,  prevented  his  great  ability 
from  receiving  the  wider  recognition  which  it 
would  have  had  in  some  other  tribunal,  perhaps  of 
far  less  importance,  but  of  greater  publicity. 

It  is,  therefore,  mere  justice  to  his  memory  that 


XXXIV 

we,  who  know  his  work  and  appreciate  his  ability, 
should  here  declare  our  estimate  of  his  intellectual 
character. 

His  kindness  to  the  younger  men  at  the  Bar  is  a 
matter  which  should  not  go  unmentioned.  It  grew 
with  his  advancing  years.  No  young  and  timid 
practitioner  ever  could  complain  of  a  rebuff.  Youth 
ful  earnestness  was  always  a  safe-conduct  to  his  con 
sideration.  Abilit)^  in  a  young  man  was  constantly 
recognized.  I  have  heard  him  more  than  once 
speak  with  appreciation  of  the  efforts  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  Bar  and  express  his  hope  for  their 
success.  Indeed,  I  should  be  wanting  in  due  regard 
for  his  memory  if  I  failed  to  declare  my  personal 
obligation  to  him  for  the  repeated  suggestions  and 
sound  advice  which  he  has  often  given  me  as  to  the 
correct  method  of  presenting  cases  in  court. 

With  all  the  personal  modesty  which  marked  him, 
the  Chief  Justice  had  a  high  opinion  of  the  dignity 
of  this  Court.  One  need  only  recall  his  opinion  in 
the  case  of  Meigs,  reported  in  the  2oth  Volume  of 
the  Reports  of  the  Court  (p.  187),  where  the  Treas 
ury  Department  had  refused  to  follow  the  judgment 
of  this  Court  on  a  later  demand  of  exactly  the  same 
nature  by  the  same  claimant.  The  opinion  reviewed 
the  laws  and  decisions  governing  the  relations  be 
tween  this  Court  and  the  Executive  Departments, 
with  this  conclusion : 

' '  Thus  the  course  of  legislation  unmistak 
ably  indicates  the  intention  of  Congress  that 
the  decisions  of  the  Court  of  Claims  shall  be 
guides  and  precedents  for  the  executive  depart- 


XXXV 

ments  in  all  like  cases.  The  wisdom  of  such 
legislation  and  of  the  intention  of  Congress 
indicated  thereby  is  manifest. ' ' 

It  was  through  his  article  on  the  ' '  History,  Juris 
diction  and  Practice  of  the  Court  of  Claims  ' '  that 
more  general  public  attention  was  invited  to  the 
Court  and  to  the  great  importance  of  its  jurisdiction. 
The  eloquent  words  of  Charles  O' Conor,  quoted  in 
this  article,  and  which  have  been  referred  to  by  a 
previous  speaker,  give  a  true  picture  of  the  work  of 
the  Court : 

' '  Here  equity,  morality,  honor  and  good  con 
science  must  be  practically  applied  to  the  deter 
mination  of  claims,  and  the  actual  authority  of 
these  principles  over  governmental  action, 
ascertained,  declared  and  illustrated  in  perma 
nent  and  abiding  forms.  As  step  by  step,  in 
successive  decisions,  you  shall  have  ascertained 
the  duties  of  government  toward  the  citizens, 
fixed  their  precise  limits  upon  sound  principles, 
and  armed  the  claimant  with  means  of  securing 
their  enforcement,  a  code  will  grow  up  giving 
effect  to  many  rights  not  heretofore  practically 
acknowledged. ' ' 

For  twenty-two  years  the  life  of  the  late  Chief 
Justice  was  devoted  to  this  end,  and  he  died  at  a 
time  when  the  ripest  fruit  of  his  mind  was  in  this 
form  given  to  the  benefit  of  his  country.  His  fame 
may  well  rest  upon  his  services  to  justice  in  this 
tribunal  and  a  permanent  result  for  good  to  his 
fellow  men  will  be  found  in  the  inestimable  aid 
rendered  by  him  in  the  establishment  of  the  law 
controlling  the  relations  between  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  and  their  government. 


xxxvi 


REMARKS  OF  MR.  ASSISTANT  ATTORNEY- 
GENERAL  CHARLES  B.  HOWRY. 

Mr.  Chairman  :  We  have  met  to  commemorate 
the  life,  character  and  services  of  the  late  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  Claims.  Nothing  we  can 
say  can  soothe  "  the  dull,  cold  ear  of  death,"  but 
the  language  of  eulogy  is  the  tribute  which  the 
living  are  wont  to  express  to  the  memory  of  the  use 
ful  and  the  good,  and  those  who  live  and  follow  the 
custom  of  according  to  those  gone  before  the  proper 
meed  of  praise  for  their  actions  here  below  thus 
unconsciously  render  homage  to  public  and  private 
virtue,  and  the  good  which  death  has  claimed  in  those 
of  whom  we  speak. 

It  is  fitting  that  the  Bar  should  assemble  to  do 
honor  to  the  memory  of  Judge  Richardson,  not  only 
because  of  his  usefulness  as  a  man,  but  his  excel 
lence  as  a  judge;  and  in  assembling  to  honor  him 
after  his  labors  are  over,  we  honor  ourselves  and  the 
community  and  country  he  served  so  well. 

Merely  to  have  lived  three-quarters  of  a  century 
signifies  but  little.  Length  of  days  and  many  years 
come  to  many,  and  material  existence  to  old  age  is 
accorded  to  millions.  But  to  have  lived  more  than 
three-score  years  and  ten,  to  have  occupied  high  and 
honorable  position,  and  to  have  attained  prominence 


XXXVll 


in  the  pursuit  of  useful  ends  and  purposes,  and 
finally  to  have  died  with  the  respect  and  esteem  of 
men,  signifies  much  and  quite  enough  to  justify 
honor  and  praise  from  those  who  live. 

Coming  to  this  city  three  years  ago,  my  acquaint 
ance  with  Judge  Richardson  began  at  that  time. 
Thus  it  may  be  said  I  came  to  know  him  in  the 
evening  of  his  days.  Under  these  circumstances 
others  can  speak  of  his  life  work  and  to  what  he 
accomplished  far  better  than  I  can,  and  I  will  not 
sketch  his  career.  But  official  relations  brought 
me  in  constant  contact  with  him  and  with  the  Court 
over  which  he  presided,  and  I  came  to  know  him 
not  only  as  a  judge,  but  as  a  man,  and  to  appreciate 
his  many  acts  of  official  wisdom  and  personal  kind 
ness.  Where  I  had  a  right  to  expect  only  official 
respect  and  courtesy,  evidences  of  personal  regard 
were  not  long  wanting  in  my  relation  with  Judge 
Richardson  which  each  recurring  season  strength 
ened  to  such  an  extent  I  felt  that  in  him  I  had 
truly  a  friend.  So  many  evidences  of  this  good 
will  on  his  part  were  given  to  me  from  time  to 
time,  I  shall  always  esteem  my  relations  with  him 
as  one  of  the  most  pleasant  memories  of  my  official 
relations  with  the  Court,  of  which  he  was  the  pre 
siding  Judge. 

We  all  know  that  men  of  strong  individuality 
often  possess  some  great  distinguishing  traits  of 
character,  which  in  life  largely  control  their  actions, 
and  in  death  becomes  manifest  as  still  the  ruling 
passion.  Historians  tell  us  that  Augustus  Caesar 
died  in  a  compliment  and  Tiberius  in  dissimulation, 


xxxmn 

while  the  hand  of  God  fell  upon  Vespasian  in  a  jest. 
Judge  Richardson  died  at  his  work.  He  was  the 
incarnation  of  work.  His  eye  was  on  everything 
connected  with  the  Court  and  the  work  of  the  Court, 
and  his  vigilance  over  the  details  of  every  part  of  the 
business  in  hand  was  something  extraordinary. 

He  had  great  pride  in  his  work  and  always  seemed 
solicitous  to  be  right,  not  merely  because  his  action 
could  be  reviewed,  but  from  an  earnest  desire  to 
reach  just  and  proper  conclusions.  Reminding  him 
upon  one  occasion  of  L,ord  Bacon's  warning  that 
judges  ought  to  remember  that  their  office  is  jus 
dicere  and  not  jus  dare,  to  interpret  law  and  not  to 
make  it,  or  give  law,  else  it  would  be  like  the  au 
thority  claimed  for  the  church,  and  that  no  torture 
could  be  worse  than  the  torture  of  the  laws, — he  was 
quick  to  respond  to  my  objections  to  judge-made 
law  that  he  hoped  his  opinions  would  lead  an 
impartial  public  to  say  that  he  had  followed  his 
office  jus  dicere. 

The  Chief  Justice  had  great  consideration  for  the 
time  and  convenience  of  others ;  keen  appreciation 
of  the  difficulties  which  beset  those  assuming  the 
prosecution,  or  charged  with  the  duty  of  defending 
cases.  He  was  ever  ready  to  smooth  the  asperities 
engendered  by  the  heat  of  active  practice  and  the 
conflicts  of  the  Court  room.  He  was  obliging  and 
courteous,  impartial  and  just,  attentive  and  vigilant, 
cautious  and  careful  of  the  rights  of  litigants,  and 
in  his  death  the  Court  of  which  he  was  chief  has 
lost  an  able  coadjutor,  the  Bar  a  friend,  and  the 
country  an  upright,  good  and  capable  judge.  I  will 


XXXIX 

not  say  more,  because  worthy  ends  and  expectations 
were  attained  by  the  late  Chief  Justice,  and  many 
warm  and  close  friends  are  here  ready  to  speak  to 
what  he  did  and  what  he  was,  while  the  splendid 
fabric  of  judicial  work  wrought  by  his  care  and 
patience  and  earnest  endeavor  in  quest  of  truth  will 
stand  longer  than  anything  we  can  say. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Abrams  the  Resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted  by  a  rising  vote. 

The  meeting  also  voted  that  when  the  Resolutions 
should  be  presented  to  the  Court  on  Monday  next, 
the  Chairman  of  this  meeting  (Mr.  Boutwell)  be 
requested  to  second  the  same  with  such  remarks  as 
he  may  desire  to  make. 

MR.  BOUTWKI.IV  :  The  chair  will  accede  to  the 
wish  of  the  members  of  the  Bar  and  will  second  the 
Resolutions  on  Monday  morning. 

Thereupon,  on  motion  of  Mr.  George  A.  King, 
the  meeting  adjourned. 


xl 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE     COURT. 


Monday,  November  23,  1896. 

Present:  The  Hon.  CHARLES  C.  NOTT, 
L,AWRENCE  WEXDON, 
JOHN  DAVIS, 
STANTON  J.  PEELLE, 

Judges. 

J.  C.  BANCROFT  DAVIS, 

Ex-Judge  of  the  Court  of  Claims. 

MARTIN  F.  MORRIS, 
Associate  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Appeals 

of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Mr.  Assistant  Attorney-General  JOSHUA  ERIC 
DODGE  addressed  the  Court  as  follows: 

May  it  please  the  Court :  At  a  meeting  of  the  Bar 
of  this  Court  held  on  Friday  last,  November  2oth, 
said  by  some  of  the  older  members  to  have  been  the 
most  representative  and  largely  attended  meeting 
held  within  their  memory,  there  were  delivered 
numerous  addresses  commemorative  of  the  character 
and  services  of  the  lately  deceased  Chief  Justice, 
William  A.  Richardson,  which  it  is  hoped  will  be 
compiled  in  print  and  given  permanence,  either  as  a 
part  of  a  memoir  of  the  life  of  their  distinguished 


subject,  or  by  incorporation  into  the  next  volume  of 
the  Reports  of  the  decisions.  Manjr  of  them  were 
eloquent,  and  all  were  worthy  of  a  place  in  the 
history  of  the  Court  which  he  so  long  adorned. 

The  meeting  also  directed  me  to  present  at  this 
time  the  following  resolutions,  with  a  motion  that 
they  be  spread  upon  the  permanent  records  of  the 
Court  : 

[Mr.  Dodge,  after  having  read  the  resolutions,  con 
tinued.] 

These  resolutions  were  but  the  crystallization  of 
the  sentiments  of  bereavement,  affection  and  admir 
ation  which  pervaded  that  meeting  of  men,  many  of 
national  rank  and  fame,  who  for  many  years  had 
been  in  the  contact  of  daily  business  affairs  with  the 
deceased.  The  sudden  breaking  of  that  routine 
forced  upon  each  the  realization  that  with  all  his 
modesty  and  unobtrusiveness,  there  had  lived  among 
us  and  gone  from  among  us  a  man  great  in  his 
generation. 

With  such  realization  comes  almost  perforce  the 
query,  ever  renewed  and  always  but  imperfectly  an 
swered,  What  is  greatness  ;  What  qualities  of  mind 
and  of  heart  constitute  it  ?  None  can  answer  by  a 
generalization.  We  can  but  analyze  the  qualities 
of  each  individual,  and  sometimes  satisfy  ourselves 
what  element  of  his  character  most  led  him  to 
his  measure  of  success  in  life.  The  man  who  has 
gone  from  among  us  commenced  his  life  in  an 
obscure  little  hamlet  among  the  northern  hills  of 
Massachusetts,  distinguished  only  by  its  name, 
Tyngsborough,  which,  as  Chief  Justice  Richardson 


xlii 

himself  discovered,  is  not  shared  by  any  other  com 
munity  in  the  United  States.  Why  did  it  not  run 
its  course  and  end  there  among  the  petty  but  re 
spectable  duties,  pleasures  and  affairs  which  make 
up  the  lives  of  so  many  gentlemen  of  education  and 
intelligence,  instead  of  reaching  out  into  the  gov 
ernment  and  courts  of  his  State  and  of  his  nation, 
so  that  when  the  end  comes,  the  great  places  of 
his  country  are  troubled,  and  those  charged  with 
cares  and  duties  as  broad  as  this  great  country  are 
brought  to  pause  therein  and  to  note  that  one  high 
among  them  is  no  more  ? 

To  me  it  seems  that  the  great  dominating  force 
in  this  career  is  an  eminently  practical  and  useful 
one,  and  one  which  in  large  measure  can  be  devel 
oped  and  cultivated  by  all,  so  that  this  life  may 
stand  out  as  a  most  useful  guide  to  those  who  yet 
have  in  much  portion  their  lives  before  them.  A 
never-tiring,  never-flagging  devotion  to  the  duties 
cast  upon  him,  more  than  anything — perhaps  more 
than  all  things  else — distinguished  our  Chief  Justice. 
Whether  the  duties  were  great  or  small,  to  them 
were  devoted  all  of  his  excellent  intellectual  power, 
all  of  his  ready  tact  and  sound  common  sense,  and 
all  of  his  persistent  industry  ;  and  in  the  progress  of 
his  career  from  his  hamlet  home  in  Tyngsborough, 
through  all  the  gradations  to  the  nation's  capital, 
and  the  control  of  some  of  the  most  important  affairs 
of  state,  his  life  was  a  repeated  fulfilment  of  the 
promise  that  ' '  he  who  has  been  faithful  over  a  few 
things  shall  be  made  ruler  over  many  things. ' ' 


xliii 


Mr.  GEORGE  S.  BOUTWELI,  said : 

May  it  please  the  Court  : 

As  a  solemn  duty  I  second  the  motion  that  has 
now  been  made  that  the  resolutions  which  have  been 
adopted  by  the  Bar  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  in  which 
the  members  have  attempted  to  set  forth  their  ap 
preciation  of  the  character  and  services  of  the  late 
Chief  Justice,  be  placed  upon  the  records  of  the 
Court  and  made  a  part  of  the  day's  proceedings. 

Before  I  speak  of  his  services  and  standing  as  an 
executive  officer  and  a  jurist,  I  shall  avail  myself  of 
the  opportunity  now  presented,  that  I  may  recognize 
the  early,  long-continued  and  uninterrupted  friend 
ship  that  subsisted  between  the  late  Chief  Justice 
and  myself. 

Our  acquaintance  began  in  the  last  half  of  the  de 
cennial  period  following  the  year  1830.  At  that  time 
neither  of  us  had  attained  to  his  majority.  William 
Adams  Richardson  was  a  pupil  in  the  Academy  at 
Groton,  Massachusetts,  and  I  was  a  clerk  in  a  village 
store.  He  entered  Harvard  College  in  1839,  and  for 
several  years  our  ways  of  life  diverged.  Our  meet 
ings  were  casual  only,  but  our  friendship  continued, 
although  in  politics  we  differed  until  we  came  together 
in  the  Republican  party.  Upon  his  graduation  from 
Harvard  College  in  1843,  ^e  began  the  systematic 
study  of  law  in  the  city  of  lyOwell,  which  became 
his  residence  for  many  years. 


xliv 

During  that  period  he  was  connected  with  the 
government  of  the  city,  and  he  was  also  interested  in 
its  institutions  of  finance  and  business  ;  and  in  the 
relations  thus  formed  his  opinions  were  much  re 
garded  and  largely  followed. 

In  1856  he  was  appointed  Judge  of  Probate  for 
the  County  of  Middlesex,  the  county  that  at  that 
time  was  the  most  populous  and  the  most  important 
county  in  the  Commonwealth. 

It  was  then  that  Judge  Richardson  became  known 
to  the  State.  In  a  few  years  thereafter  he  received 
the  appointment  of  Judge  of  the  combined  Courts  of 
Probate  and  Insolvency  for  the  same  County. 

His  services  in  the  two  offices  covered  a  period  of 
about  sixteen  years,  and  his  administration,  from 
beginning  to  end,  was  free  from  criticism  or  com 
plaint.  During  that  period  he  was  often  called  to 
act  as  referee  in  important  cases,  when  the  parties 
wished  to  avoid  the  delay  and  expense  of  litigation 
in  the  courts. 

In  that  same  period  he  performed  two  most  im 
portant  services,  one  for  the  State  in  the  revision  of 
its  laws,  and  the  other  in  behalf  of  good  learning  in 
the  reformation  of  the  Board  of  Overseers  of  Harvard 
College.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Commission  that 
revised  the  laws  of  the  State  as  they  appeared  in  the 
year  1860.  I  would  not  be  unjust  to  his  associates 
upon  the  Commission,  but  it  was  the  opinion  of  those 
who  were  most  carefully  instructed  upon  the  subject, 
that  the  more  delicate  and  difficult  parts  of  the  work 
were  performed  by  him.  To  all  of  us,  whether  of 
the  Bench  or  of  the  Bar,  it  is  known  that  he  was 


xlv 

ready  at  all  times  in  age  as  in  youth  to  assume  any 
work  that  was  in  the  line  of  his  duty,  or  of  his  pro 
fession.  He  was  one  of  three  men,  who,  graduates 
of  the  college,  were  instrumental  in  securing  a 
change  of  the  law  by  which  the  election  of  the  over 
seers  is  vested  in  the  alumni  of  the  college.  This 
change  has  contributed  materially  to  the  prosperity 
that  has  attended  the  college,  in  these  last  five  and 
twenty  years,  under  the  wise  and  efficient  adminis 
tration  of  President  Kliot. 

It  was  with  great  reluctance,  and  only  after  long 
delay  and  much  urging  on  my  part,  that  Judge 
Richardson  consented  to  resign  his  office  in  Massa 
chusetts  and  to  accept  the  place  of  Associate  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury.  His  office  in  Massachusetts 
was  an  honorable  office,  its  duties  were  agreeable  to 
him,  he  was  among  his  early  and  long-tried  friends, 
and  on  every  side  he  was  honored  and  respected. 

After  a  delay  of  several  months  he  yielded  to  my 
importunities,  but  against  his  own  inclination,  and 
he  thus  entered  a  larger  field  of  public  service. 

In  the  three  and  a  half  years  of  our  association  he 
contributed  largely  to  whatever  of  success  was  at 
tained  during  my  administration  of  the  Treasury 
Department. 

I  pass  over  all  minor  events  and  incidents,  that  I 
may  speak  of  one  important  service  which  may  not 
have  been  paralleled  in  our  history,  or  in  the  history 
of  any  other  country. 

In  the  year  1871,  a  subscription  was  made  in  I/m- 
don  for  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  million  of  five 
per  cent.  United  States  bonds,  the  transaction  to 


xlvi 

be  consummated  in  L,ondon,  the  first  day  of  Decem 
ber  of  that  year,  and  payment  to  be  made  in  gold, 
or  in  five-twenty  six  per  cent,  bonds. 

Judge  Richardson  was  charged  with  the  duty  of 
making  the  transfer.  He  was  assisted  by  a  corps  of 
clerks,  but  the  duty  and  the  responsibility  were  on 
him.  The  larger  part  of  the  new  bonds  was  paid 
for  by  the  delivery  of  old  five-twenty  bonds,  par  for 
par,  but  the  payments  in  gold  ran  far  up  into  the 
millions.  The  gold  funds  were  invested  subsequently 
in  five-twenty  bonds  at  par,  and  at  the  end  of  a  few 
months  the  Treasury  received  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four  million  of  redeemed  five-twenty  six  per 
cent,  bonds,  in  exchange  for  the  issue  of  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty-four  million  of  five  per  cent,  bonds. 

The  magnitude  of  this  transaction  may  well  make 
one  shudder  even  after  the  lapse  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  so  proportionately  should  be  our  admir 
ation  over  the  success  of  its  execution.  His  term  of 
office  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  must  be  measured 
by  months  rather  than  by  years,  and  it  was  too  brief 
to  furnish  a  full  view  of  his  capacity  as  an  executive 
officer.  His  administration  was  marked  by  a  wise, 
careful  attention  to  business,  and  by  a  judicious  dis 
charge  of  every  duty. 

I  have  once  made  this  remark  in  a  public  way : 
There  is  a  rough  side  to  Government,  and  there  must 
be  a  quality  of  harshness  in  those  who  administer 
governments  successfully.  Such  generalizations, 
even  if  true  as  rules  of  action,  are  subject  to  excep 
tions.  If  it  had  been  the  fortune  of  Judge  Richard 
son  to  have  served  on  the  executive  side  of  the  Gov- 


xlvii 

ernment  for  a  period  of  years,  and  there  had  been 
any  just  cause  for  criticism,  it  would  have  had  its 
origin  in  the  absence  of  the  quality  of  harshness  in 
his  nature. 

I  count  it  something — indeed,  I  count  it  much  in 
any  man's  career,  that  he  enjoyed  the  friendship  and 
confidence  of  General  Grant.  That  was  the  good 
fortune  of  Judge  Richardson  to  the  end  of  General 
Grant's  life. 

General  Grant  spoke  of  his  friends  in  a  way  that 
distinguished  them  from  other  persons.  With  them 
he  dispensed  with  all  appellations,  whether  Mr. ,  Col 
onel  or  General.  In  conversations  General  Sherman 
was  only  ' '  Sherman  ' '  and  Judge  Richardson  was 
only  ' '  Richardson. ' ' 

While  Judge  Richardson  held  the  office  of  Judge 
in  this  Court,  and  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court,  he 
performed  other  important  work  for  which  his  labors 
in  Massachusetts  had  given  him  large  preparation. 
The  Supplements  to  the  Revised  Statutes,  which 
were  prepared  by  him  largely  and  always  under  his 
direction,  are  evidences  of  his  painstaking  industry, 
and  of  his  aptitude  rising  quite  near  to  genius,  for 
the  codification  and  arrangement  and  notation  of 
statutes,  qualifications  not  appreciated  even  by  the 
members  of  the  profession,  and  by  the  general  pub 
lic  they  are  not  considered,  nor  even  known.  If  the 
index  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  1878  has  ever  been 
criticised,  the  criticism  has  not  fallen  under  my  no 
tice.  Indeed,  the  statement  has  been  made  that  one 
of  the  States  of  the  Union  required  the  revisers  of 
its  statutes  to  accept  as  a  model  the  index  of  the 


xlviii 

Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States.  The  plan 
and  the  organization  of  the  plan  of  that  index  are 
due  to  Judge  Richardson  ;  and  of  the  work,  especially 
in  the  arrangement,  a  large  part  was  performed  by 
him. 

Its  volume  may  be  realized  from  the  fact  that  there 
are  about  twenty-five  thousand  references,  and  that 
there  are  at  least  three  references  by  substantive 
words,  to  every  phase  of  legislative  action.  His  skill 
in  the  organization  and  arrangement  of  the  index 
may  be  best  seen  by  reference  to  the  reading  under 
the  heading  of  <(  Crimes." 

The  death  of  Judge  Richardson  gives  me  the  only 
opportunity  that  was  possible  of  placing  the  honor  of 
the  index,  which  must  mean  something  with  the  pro 
fession,  to  the  credit  of  his  name  and  memory. 

The  indulgence  of  the  Court  must  be  asked  when 
I  say  that  it  is  the  misfortune  of  the  Court,  now  re 
alized  in  the  case  of  Judge  Richardson,  that  it  does 
not  speak  in  the  language  which  is  the  language  of 
the  courts  of  the  country  and  of  the  English  world. 
This  Court  deals  largely  with  causes  arising  under 
statutes  which  gives  the  individual  a  right  of  action 
against  the  United  States  on  claims  sounding  in  con 
tract.  It  has  no  jurisdictions  over  controversies  be 
tween  private  parties,  it  has  no  common  law  juris 
diction  ;  and  its  equity  powers,  as  granted  by  recent 
statutes,  are  limited,  though  as  yet  they  have  not 
been  fully  tested.  By  the  statutes  which  gave  to 
this  Court  a  qualified  jurisdiction  over  claims  known 
as  French  Spoliation  Claims,  questions  of  interna- 


xlix 

tional  law,  and  questions  touching  the  value  of  decis 
ions  of  foreign  courts,  were  considered  by  the  tribu 
nal,  but  at  the  end  of  an  experience  of  half  a  cen 
tury  it  is  to  be  said  that  but  few  of  its  decisions  are 
applicable  as  precedents,  or  as  authorities  in  common 
law  or  equity  courts. 

Hence  it  has  happened  that  the  bar  and  the  judi 
ciary  of  the  country  have  been  ignorant  of  the  do 
ings  of  this  Court ;  and  hence  it  is  that  the  late 
Chief  Justice  did  not  acquire  the  standing  as  a  jurist 
that  he  would  have  reached  had  he  had  a  seat  in  a 
court  of  general  jurisdiction. 

These  observations  should  not  lead  us  to  under 
value  the  questions  raised  and  the  decisions  rendered 
in  this  Court.  There  are  but  few  courts  in  the  coun 
try,  if  indeed  there  are  any,  in  which  the  controver 
sies  are  of  more  importance,  or  in  which  the  ascer 
tainment  of  the  facts  is  more  difficult. 

As  a  summary,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
late  Chief  Justice  met,  and  fully  met,  every  reqire- 
ment  that  is  essential  in  a  judge.  In  learning  he 
was  fully  prepared  for  every  exigency  of  the  bar  or 
of  the  bench ;  he  was  urbane  in  manner  and  resolute 
in  his  purposes  ;  he  was  considerate  of  the  rights  of 
others  and  firm  in  the  maintenance  of  the  just  au 
thority  of  the  Court.  In  fine,  his  judicial  career  is 
without  spot  or  blemish.  It  is  a  great  tribute  to  be 
able  to  say,  and  in  truth  to  say,  of  an  associate  whose 
career  is  ended,  that  through  a  period  of  more  than 
forty  years  he  occupied  important  places  in  the  pub 
lic  service,  and  constantly  under  the  public  eye,  that 
he  was  everywhere  and  always  equal  to  the  duty  be- 


I 

fore  him,  that  he  never  erred  to  the  injury  of  State 
or  country,  and  that  at  the  end  we  are  not  tempted 
to  draw  the  veil  of  oblivion  over  any  day  of  his  pub 
lic  or  private  life. 


Judge  WKivDON,  on  behalf  of  the  Court,  re 
sponded  as  follows  : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Bar :  The  Court  receives  the 
resolutions  and  proceedings  of  the  Bar  in  relation 
to  the  death  of  the  late  Chief  Justice,  as  a  just  and 
appropriate  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  whose  ca 
reer  is  well  worthy  of  the  highest  appreciation  of 
public  esteem. 

Chief  Justice  Richardson  had  a  most  successful 
and  honorable  public  career,  discharging  every  re 
sponsibility  and  trust  imposed  upon  him  with  great 
credit  to  himself,  and  honor  and  profit  to  his  country. 

In  his  infancy  the  lines  had  fallen  to  him  in  the 
golden  medium  between  competency  and  wealth  ;  he 
was  not  borne  down  by  privations,  nor  enervated  by 
the  expectancy  of  hereditary  riches ;  he  did  not 
encounter  the  difficulty  of  want,  nor  the  more 
dangerous  influence  of  wealth,  which  so  often  blights 
the  ambition  and  paralyzes  the  energy  of  youth. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  graduated  from  that 
institution,  which  has  been  from  the  earliest  days  of 


u 

this  country  and  is  now,  the  pride  and  boast  of 
American  learning.  Nature  had  endowed  him  with 
the  highest  and  best  qualifications  of  the  student, 
lawyer  and  judge  —  industry. 

In  his  course  at  Harvard  College  he  had  acquired 
the  ability  of  close,  prolonged  and  intense  mental 
application,  the  possession  of  which  enabled  him  to 
perform  with  credit  and  discharge  with  success,  the 
many  responsibilities  which  through  more  than  half 
a  century  devolved  upon  him. 

Underlying  the  individual  efforts  which  he  made 
as  student,  lawyer,  executive  officer  and  judge,  were 
the  sterling  qualities  of  that  character  which  he  had 
inherited  from  a  long  line  of  ancestry,  embodying 
the  characteristics  of  that  noble  race  which  developed 
New  England  in  all  the  elements  that  constitute  a 
great  people. 

He  was  highly  educated  in  the  perfect  discipline 
of  his  mind,  being  enabled,  because  of  such  discipline, 
to  bestow  upon  any  subject  of  investigation  the 
undivided  and  prolonged  thought  of  his  whole  being ; 
and  that,  in  the  end,  is  the  perfection  of  education. 
Education  is  not  necessarily  scope  and  breadth  of 
information  ;  its  highest  and  best  quality  is  the 
mental  aptitude  to  investigate  and  understand  the 
complex  questions  of  mind  and  matter. 

Upon  his  graduation  the  Chief  Justice  chose  the 
profession  of  the  law  as  the  vocation  of  his  life ;  and 
to  its  study  and  practice  he  brought  those  habits  of 
trained  thought  which  he  had  acquired  in  the 
discipline  of  the  schools. 

Public  observation,  which  is  not  slow  to  discern 


m 

aptitudes  and  qualifications  fitting  men  for  public 
trust,  soon  conferred  upon  him  the  confidence  of  its 
appreciation  in  his  selection  to  revise  the  statutes  of 
Massachusetts,  a  work  which  he  continued  to  do  for 
more  than  twenty  years.  He  was  again  selected  by 
the  legislature  to  edit  the  Supplement  of  the  Statutes, 
which  he  did  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  legislature, 
and  of  a  bar,  the  most  critical  of  any  in  the  United 
States. 

In  1856,  he  became  the  Judge  of  Probate  and  In 
solvency  in  a  county  second  to  only  one  in  the  State 
of  Massachusetts.  In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
that  important  office,  he  again  marked  his  official 
career  with  that  ability  and  industry  by  which  and 
in  which  were  performed  the  acts  of  his  whole  life, 
as  a  guardian  of  a  private  or  public  trust. 

In  1869,  having  declined  higher  judicial  honors  in 
the  State  of  Massachusetts,  he  became  Assistant  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury,  his  lifelong  and  devoted 
friend,  Governor  Boutwell,  being  the  Secretary.  In 
that  capacity  he  went  to  Europe  as  the  financial 
agent  of  the  United  States  to  adjust  and  arrange 
some  of  the  most  delicate  and  important  matters 
connected  with  the  public  credit ;  and  on  his  return 
he  became  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  In  the  dis 
charge  of  the  duties  of  that  high  office  he  infused 
the  spirit  of  that  industry  and  purity  of  purpose 
which  in  all  the  relations  of  life  had  been  the  marked 
individuality  of  his  public  and  private  career. 

He  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  during  the 
panic  of  1873  ;  and  by  conservative  and  able  counsel, 
the  administration,  in  the  conduct  of  the  Treasury 


tm 

Department,  adhered  to  and  maintained  the  wise 
policy  of  financial  integrity. 

In  1874,  the  Chief  Justice  became,  by  the  appoint 
ment  of  President  Grant,  a  Judge  of  this  Court,  in 
which  capacity  he  served  until  he  became  Chief 
Justice  in  January,  1885. 

His  judicial  labors  on  this  bench  commenced  with 
the  tenth  and  ended  with  the  thirty-first  volume  of 
the  reports  ;  and  it  is  a  melancholy  and  sad  reflec 
tion  that  the  opening  of  the  present  session  marked 
the  boundary  of  that  life  which  has  so  richly  con 
tributed  to  the  exposition  of  the  law  which  defines 
and  settles  the  rights  of  the  citizen  and  the  sovereign. 

It  is  almost  useless  for  me  to  say  to  you,  Gentle 
men  of  the  Bar,  that  during  his  labors  the  litigation 
of  this  Court  has  been  very  much  enlarged,  embrac 
ing  within  its  scope  the  decisions  of  the  most  complex 
questions  of  nearly  every  branch  of  the  law  and  the 
evolution  of  truth  from  the  widest  range  of  human 
testimony.  For  more  than  twenty-two  years,  the 
arduous  and  responsible  duties  of  a  Judge  and  Chief 
Justice  of  this  Court  were  discharged  by  him  with 
an  ability  and  faithfulness  adequate  to  the  full  re 
quirement  of  the  positions. 

The  information  which  he  acquired  while  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  was  of  great  service  to  the  Court  in 
the  adjudication  of  cases  involving  questions  of  stat 
utory  construction  applicable  to  that  department. 
His  mind  had  great  power  of  retention,  and  a  prin 
ciple  of  administrative  law  was  recalled  with  ready 
reference  when  it  became  applicable  in  the  litigation 
of  the  Court. 


The  twenty-one  volumes  of  the  reports  in  which 
may  be  found  his  opinions  on  the  varied  questions  of 
our  jurisdiction  are  a  lasting  memorial  to  his  name 
and  fame.  They  will  remain  as  landmarks  of  the  law 
as  long  as  our  system  of  government  endures,  and  this 
forum  shall  be  open  for  the  adjudication  of  national 
obligations.  The  good  of  his  life  is  not  "interred 
with  his  bones." 

During  almost  the  entire  period  of  his  services  on 
the  Bench,  notwithstanding  the  perplexing  and  mani 
fold  duties  of  the  office  of  Chief  Justice,  he  performed 
his  portion  of  the  labor  incident  to  all  the  members  of 
the  Court,  sharing  every  responsibility  and  shrink 
ing  from  no  task,  however  burdensome. 

He  was  most  ine.thodical  in  the  habits  of  his  life 
as  a  member  of  the  Court,  discharging  the  minor 
duties  of  Chief  Justice  with  the  same  care  and  atten 
tion  that  he  bestowed  upon  the  higher  requirements 
of  the  position.  In  Court,  as  every  member  of  the 
Bar  will  attest,  he  was  as  free  from  judicial  tyranny 
as  any  judge  could  be,  and  administered  the  power 
of  his  high  trust  in  the  kindest  consideration  of  all. 

The  ' '  insolence  of  office  ' '  sometimes  manifested 
in  courts  of  justice  found  no  place  in  what  he  said 
or  did  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  office  of  Chief  Justice.  Patience,  for 
bearance,  courtesy  and  consideration  toward  all, 
marked  the  lineaments  of  his  official  character. 

In  that  beneficent  economy  of  nature  which  pro 
vides  aptitudes  for  the  necessities  of  the  race,  from 
the  rudest  state  of  society  to  the  highest  develop 
ments  of  civilization,  the  Chief  Justice  was  endowed 


Iv 

with  the  faculty  of  justice,  which  discerns  through 
the  mazes  of  judicial  controversy  the  substantial 
rights  of  litigants  founded  upon  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  laws. 

*  *  *  *  For  justice 

All  places  a  temple,  and  all  seasons  summer. 

His  mind  was  of  the  practical  and  substantial 
mold,  free  from  intellectual  prejudice,  ready  to 
change  when  reason  dictated,  uninfluenced  by  the 
pride  of  opinion,  or  the  dangerous  and  unreasonable 
demands  of  consistency. 

His  opinions  are  fine  specimens  of  judicial  state 
ment,  terse  in  words  yet  comprehensive  in  thought, 
saying  nothing  beyond  the  requirements  of  the  case, 
and  enunciating  the  principle  of  the  decision  so 
clearly  that  its  authority  is  unquestioned. 

In  the  branch  of  statutory  law,  the  Chief  Justice 
had  rare  qualifications  as  a  Judge.  His  knowledge 
of  that  department  of  jurisprudence  has  not  been 
excelled  in  the  history  of  this  country.  His  patient 
and  unremitting  power  of  investigation,  his  accurate 
and  clear  conception  of  legal  principles  embodied  in 
the  forms  of  statutory  enactment,  his  varied  expe 
rience  in  the  revision  and  construction  of  acts  of  the 
legislature  of  his  native  State,  and  of  the  laws  of  Con 
gress,  conferred  upon  him  the  highest  quality  of 
ability  involving  the  correct  exposition  of  the  law 
as  founded  upon  the  will  of  the  legislature. 

The  truth  of  this  statement  is  abundantly  verified 
in  the  many  opinions  delivered  by  him  in  this  Court ; 
and  in  the  volumes  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  both  State 


Ivi 

and  National,  which  bear  the  imprint  of  his  genius. 
They  are  more  complimentary  to  his  memory  than 
the  praise  of  a  friendship,  however  fervent. 

In  1880,  he  was  selected  by  joint  resolution  of 
Congress  to  prepare  and  edit  the  ' '  Supplement  to 
the  Revised  Statutes, ' '  a  work  ' '  embracing  the 
statutes  general  and  permanent  in  their  nature, 
passed  after  the  Revised  Statutes,  with  references 
connecting  the  provisions  on  the  same  subject, 
explanatory  notes,  citations  of  judicial  decisions 
and  a  general  index." 

The  work  as  first  published  extended  from  the 
date  the  Revised  Statutes  went,  into  effect  (1873)  to 
the  adjournment  of  the  Forty-sixth  Congress,  in  1881. 
So  useful  was  this  work,  in  bringing  together  the 
permanent  legislation  of  general  import,  segregated 
from  the  mass  of  private  and  temporary  legislation 
with  which  it  is  intermingled  in  the  Statutes-at- 
Large,  that  Congress,  ten  years  later,  provided  for  a 
second  edition  of  the  work,  bringing  it  down  to  date, 
and  including  eighteen  years  of  legislation,  from  1874 
to  1891,  and  constituting  what  is  known  as  the 
"  Supplement  to  the  Revised  Statutes,  Volume  i, 
Second  Edition."  In  1893,  tne  work  was  made  a 
continuing  and  permanent  one,  to  be  prepared  at  each 
session  of  Congress. 

During  the  summer,  although  wasted  in  form, 
broken  in  health  and  fully  conscious  of  the  near  ap 
proach  of  death,  he  continued  his  labors  with  undi- 
minished  interest  in  the  preparation  of  the  present 
volume,  surrendering  at  last  to  that  invincible  enemy 
which  in  the  end  conquers  us  all. 


Imi 

His  career  was  a  success,  filling  as  it  did  the  meas 
ure  of  a  half  century  with  the  fruits  of  patient  and 
patriotic  toil  in  the  public  and  private  relations  of 
life. 

The  positions  which  he  occupied  in  the  civil  serv 
ice  are  not  surrounded  by  the  glamour  of  popular 
applause,  but  in  the  conservative  virtue  of  their  in 
fluence  they  are  most  important  to  the  success  and 
the  perpetuity  of  that  system  of  liberty  which  recog 
nizes  equality  as  the  basis  of  civil  and  political  power. 

His  valuable  labors  on  the  bench,  in  the  field  of 
statutory  publications,  his  services  in  the  execu 
tive  branch  of  the  government,  entitle  him  to  the 
respect  and  admiration  of  the  bar  and  the  gratitude 
of  his  country. 

The  Chief  Justice  has  passed  into  a  memory  ;  but 
what  he  did  remains.  I^et  us  hope  that  his  labors, 
in  common  with  those  of  the  sages  of  the  law,  may 
stand  as  a  safe  depository  of  the  rights  of  individuals, 
may  calm  and  mitigate  the  struggles  of  parties  in  the 
coining  years  of  free  institutions  ;  and  that  the  voice 
of  judicial  reason  may  conserve  and  preserve  the  land 
marks  of  constitutional  liberty  to  the  latest  period  of 
time. 

May  our  history  vindicate  the  truth  that 

Virtue  alone  outbuilds  the  pyramids, 

Her  monuments  shall  last  when  Egypt's  fall. 

By  order  of  the  Court  the  request  of  the  Bar  is 
granted,  and  the  Resolutions  will  be  entered  of  record, 
to  endure  as  a  lasting  memorial  to  the  memory  of 
Chief  Justice  WIUJAM  A.  RICHARDSON. 

The  Court  thereupon  adjourned  for  the  day. 


IW11 


REPORT  OF  THE  METHOD  ADOPTED  BY 

ASSISTANT  SECRETARY  RICHARDSON, 

AT  LONDON,  TO  KEEP  SAFE  THE 

MONEY  RECEIVED  FROM  SALE 

OF  THE  FUNDED  LOAN. 

41  LOMBARD  STREET, 
LONDON,  Jarfy  2$th,  1872. 
Hon.  GEORGE  S.  BOUTWEU,, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
DEAR  SIR: 

It  is  my  purpose  in  this  letter  to  give  you  an 
account  of  the  way  in  which  I  have  kept  the  money 
arising  from  the  sale  of  the  Funded  Loan,  and  the 
manner  in  which  it  has  been  drawn  from  time  to 
time  to  pay  for  bonds  purchased  and  redeemed. 

Immediately  after  the  first  of  December,  '71,  the 
money  began  to  accumulate  very  rapidly.  Up  to 
the  first  of  December  no  money  whatever  had  been 
received,  all  bonds  delivered  having  been  paid  for  by 
the  called  bonds  and  coupons,  or  secured  by  deposit 
of  other  bonds  ;  but  on  the  second  day  of  that 
month  nearly  two  and  a-half  millions  of  dollars  cash 
were  paid  to  me  ;  then,  on  the  4th,  nearly  five 
millions  of  dollars  more;  and  on  the  5th,  above 
three  millions,  and  so  on  in  different  sums  till  the 
present  time.  Of  course  it  was  wholly  impracticable 
to  receive,  handle,  count  and  keep  on  hand  such 


lix 

large  amounts  of  gold  coin,  weighing  between  a  ton 
and  three-quarters  and  two  tons  to  each  million  of 
dollars.  At  one  time  my  account  showed  more  than 
sixteen  millions  of  dollars  on  hand,  and  to  have 
withdrawn  from  circulation  that  amount  of  coin 
would  have  produced  a  panic  in  the  lyondon  market, 
and  the  risk  in  having  it  hoarded  in  any  place  within 
my  reach  would  have  been  immense,  especially  as  it 
would  soon  have  been  known  where  it  was. 

I  ascertained  that  there  would  be  some  difficulty 
in  keeping  an  official  government  account  in  the 
Bank  of  Kngland,  and  I  did  not  feel  authorized,  or 
justified  on  my  own  judgment,  in  entrusting  so  much 
money  to  any  other  Banking  Institution  in  this  city. 
I  found  also  that  the  Bank  of  Kngland  never  issues 
certificates  of  deposit,  as  do  our  banks  in  the  United 
States.  But  it  issues  "post  notes,"  which  are  very 
nearly  like  its  ordinary  demand  notes,  but  payable  to 
order  and  on  seven  days  time ;  thus  differing  only 
in  the  matter  of  time  from  certificates  of  deposit. 
Availing  myself  of  this  custom  of  the  Bank  of  Kng 
land,  I  put  all  the  money  into  post  notes,  and  locked 
them  up  in  one  of  the  safes  from  which  the  bonds 
had  been  taken.  This  I  regarded  as  a  safe  method 
of  keeping  the  funds,  and  I  anticipated  no  further 
difficulty. 

But  when  the  Bank  made  its  next  monthly  or 
weekly  return  of  its  condition,  and  published  it  in 
all  the  newspapers  as  usual,  the  attention  of  all  the 
financial  agents,  bankers,  and  financial  writers  of 
the  daily  money  articles  in  the  journals  was  imme 
diately  attracted  to  the  sudden  increase  of  the  ' '  post 


Ix 

notes ' '  outstanding,  and  the  unusually  large  amount 
of  them,  so  many  times  greater  than  had  ever  been 
known  before.  They  were  immensely  alarmed  lest 
the  notes  should  come  in  for  redemption  in  a  few 
days,  and  the  coin  therefor  should  be  withdrawn 
from  London  and  taken  to  a  foreign  country ;  and 
lest  there  should  be  a  panic  on  account  thereof. 
Some  of  the  financial  writers  said  they  belonged  to 
Germany,  and  that  they  represented  coin  wrhich 
must  soon  be  transmitted  to  Berlin.  The  Bank  offi 
cers  themselves,  although  they  knew  very  well  that 
these  notes  belonged  to  the  United  States,  were  not 
less  alarmed  because  they  feared  that  I  would  with 
draw  the  money  to  send  it  to  New  York,  which  they 
knew  would  make  trouble  in  the  London  Exchange. 
Money,  which  for  a  short  time  before  had  been  at 
the  high  rate  of  interest,  for  this  place,  of  five  per 
cent.,  had  become  abundant  and  the  people  were 
demanding  of  the  Bank  a  reduction  in  the  rate.  But 
so  timid  were  they  about  these  post  notes  that  the)7" 
did  not  change  the  rate  till  I  took  measures  to  allay 
their  fears.  This  I  did  because  I  thought  it  would 
be  injurious  and  prejudicial  to  the  Funded  Loan, 
to  have  a  panic  in  London,  in  which  the  market 
price  of  the  new  loan  would  drop  considerably  below 
par  just  at  a  time  when  its  price  and  popularity  were 
gradually  rising,  and  just  as  it  was  coming  into 
great  favor  with  a  new  class  of  investors  in  England, 
the  immensely  rich  but  timid  conservatives. 

I  determined  to  open  a  deposit  account  with  the 
Bank  of  England,  and  in  doing  so  experienced  the 
difficulties  which  I  anticipated.  I  assured  the  offi- 


/on 
cers  that  the  money  was  government  (U.  S.)  money, 
which  I  did  not  intend,  and  was  not  instructed,  to 
take  home  with  me;  but  which  I  should  use  in  London 
in  redeeming  bonds  and  coupons,  and  should  leave 
in  the  Bank  on  deposit  unless  by  the  peculiarity 
of  their  rules  I  should  be  obliged  to  withdraw  it. 
They  objected  to  taking  the  money  as  a  government 
deposit,  or  as  an  official  deposit  in  my  name,  having 
some  vague  idea  that  if  they  took  it  and  opened  an 
official  government  account,  they  should  be  liable 
for  the  appropriation  of  the  money,  unless  documents 
from  the  United  States  were  filed  with  them  taking 
away  that  liability;  but  they  could  not  tell  me 
exactly  what  documents  they  wanted,  nor  from 
whom  they  must  come.  They  did,  however,  agree 
to  open  an  account  with  me,  and  that  was  the  best 
I  could  do.  In  signing  my  name  to  their  book  I 
added  my  official  title,  and  when,  some  time  after,  I 
came  to  drawing  checks  I  signed  in  the  same  way. 
This  brought  from  the  officers  a  letter,  which  I  annex 
hereto,  saying  that  my  deposit  would  be  regarded  as 
a  private  and  personal  one. 

What  I  was  most  anxious  to  provide  for  was  the 
power  in  some  United  States  officer  to  draw  the 
money  in  case  of  my  death,  (knowing  the  uncer 
tainty  of  life,)  without  the  delay,  expense  and 
trouble  which  must  necessarily  arise,  if  it  stood 
wholly  to  my  personal  credit.  I  asked  the  officers  to 
allow  it  to  stand  in  your  name  as  Secretary,  and 
mine  as  Assistant  Secretary,  jointly  and  severally, 
so  as  to  be  drawn  upon  the  several  check  of  either, 
and  by  the  survivor  in  case  of  the  death  of  either 


ten 

one.  I  suggested  other  arrangements  which  would 
have  the  same  result,  but  they  said  their  rules  pre 
vented  their  agreeing  to  my  requests,  that  they  were 
conservative  and  did  not  like  to  introduce  anything 
new  into  their  customs. 

On  the  i5th  day  of  January,  1872,  I  renewed  my 
request  in  writing,  after  having  had  several  conver 
sations  with  the  officers  on  the  subject,  and  received 
an  answer  which,  with  the  letter  of  request,  is  hereto 
annexed. 

In  this,  their  most  recent  communication,  they 
express  a  willingness  to  enter  the  account  in  our 
joint  names  as  I  suggested,  regarding  it  however  as 
a  ' '  personal  account, ' '  and  requiring  that  you  should 
"join  in  the  request  and  concur  in  the  conditions 
proposed  before  either  party  can  in  that  case  draw 
upon  the  account." 

As  I  must  now  almost  daily  draw  from  the  account 
for  money  with  which  to  pay  bonds  I  cannot  join 
your  name  therein  until  you  have  sent  me  a  written 
compliance  with  the  conditions  which  they  set  forth  ; 
because  to  do  so  would  shut  me  out  from  the  account 
altogether  for  several  weeks.  Besides,  having  no 
instructions  from  you  on  the  subject,  I  don't  know 
that  you  would  care  to  give  written  directions  as  to 
the  deposit.  I  know  very  well  that,  in  case  of  my 
sudden  decease,  you  would  be  glad  enough  to  find 
that  you  could  at  once  avail  yourself  of  the  whole 
amount  of  money  here  on  deposit,  and  so  I  should 
have  joined  your  name  as  I  have  stated. 

Now  you  can  do  as  you  please.  I  have  taken 
every  possible  precaution  within  my  power,  and  have 


Ixiii 

no  fear  that  the  arrangements  are  insufficient  to 
protect  the  Government  in  any  contingency  what 
ever.  With  the  correspondence  which  has  passed 
between  the  officers  of  the  Bank  and  myself,  and  our 
conversation  together,  the  account  is  sufficiently  well 
known  to  them  as  a  U.  S.  government  deposit,  and 
is  fully  enough  stamped  with  that  character,  as  I 
intended  it  should  be,  however  much  they  may 
ignore  it  now. 

But  for  still  greater  caution,  I  made  a  written 
declaration  of  trust  on  the  very  day  of  the  first 
deposit,  signed  and  sealed  by  me,  declaring  the 
money  and  account  as  belonging  to  our  Government 
and  not  to  me,  a  copy  of  which  is  hereto  annexed. 

I  also  gave  written  instructions  to  Messrs.  Bige- 
low  and  Prentiss  to  draw  all  the  checks  and  how  to 
draw  them  and  keep  an  account  thereof.  As  I  make 
all  my  purchases  through  Jay  Cooke,  McCullough, 
&  Co.,  every  check  is  in  fact  payable  to  that  house, 
so  that  the  account  is  easily  kept,  and  the  transac 
tions  cannot  be  mingled  with  others,  for  there  are  no 
others.  I  annex  a  copy  of  these  instructions. 

This,  I  believe,  will  give  you  a  pretty  correct  idea 
of  the  difficulties  which  have  been  presented  to  me 
in  the  matter  of  taking,  keeping,  and  paying  out  the 
money  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  bonds,  and  the 
manner  in  which  I  have  met  them. 

I  may  add  that  when  the  officers  of  the  Bank  were 
satisfied  that  I  was  not  to  withdraw  the  money  and 
take  it  to  New  York,  they  reduced  the  rate  of  interest, 
and  there  has  been  an  easy  money  market  ever  since. 

There  are  now  on  deposit  more  than  twelve  millions 


Ixiv 


of  dollars;  but  I  hope  it  will  be  reduced  very  fast  next 
month.  Had  you  not  sent  over  the  last  ten  millions 
of  bonds,  we  should  have  been  able  to  close  up  very 
soon.  I  hope  now  that  you  will  make  another  call 
of  twenty  millions  at  least,  because  I  think  it  would 
enable  us  to  purchase  more  rapidly. 
I  annex : 

1 .  Copy  of  my  declaration  of  trust. 

2.  Copy  of  instructions  for  drawing  checks. 

3.  Copy  of  letter  from  Cashier  of  Bank  of  England, 

stating  that  the   account  would  be  considered 
personal. 

4.  Copy  of  my  letter  to  the  Governor  of  the  Bank, 

asking  that  your  name  might  be  joined, 
of  reply  to  last  mentioned  letter. 
I  am,  very  respectfully, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

WIUJAM  A.  RICHARDSON. 


[COPY] 

Whereas  I  have  this  day  deposited  in  my  name  as 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  U.  S.  A.,  in  the 
Bank  of  England,  Two  Millions  five  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling,  and  shall  probably 
hereafter  make  further  deposits  on  the  same  account. 

Now  I  hereby  declare  that  said  account  and 
deposits  present  and  future,  are  official  and  belong 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  not  to 
me  personally ;  that  the  monies  so  deposited  are  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  five  per  cent,  bonds  of  the 
' '  Funded  I^oan ; ' '  that  whatever  money  I  may  at 


Ixv 

any  time  have  in  said  bank  under  said  account  will 
be  the  property  of  the  United  States  Government 
held  by  me  officially  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  acting  under  orders  from  the  Secretary ; 
that  the  same  is,  and  will  continue  to  be  subject  to 
the  draft,  check,  order,  and  control  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  independently  of,  and  superior  to  my 
authority  whenever  he  so  elects,  and  that  upon  his 
assuming  control  thereof  my  power  over  the  same 
will  wholly  cease.  In  case  of  my  decease  before 
said  account  is  closed  the  money  on  deposit  will  not 
belong  to  my  estate,  but  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States. 

Witness  my  hand  and  seal. 

WIUJAM  A.  RICHARDSON, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  U.  S. 
LONDON,  ENG.  [i,.  s.] 

December  28,  1871. 

f  JNO.    P.   BlGKU)W. 

Witnesses.  J  3.  w.  BOWKN. 

I  GKO.  I,.  WARREN. 


[COPY] 

41,  LOMBARD  ST. 

LONDON,  KNG.,  Dec.  28, 

To  JOHN  P.  BIGEIX>W,  Chief  of  the  Loan  Division, 

Secretary's  Office,  Treasury  Department,  U.  S.  A. 

I  have  this  day  deposited  in  the  Bank  of  England 

in  my  name  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 

Two  Million  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds 

sterling  money  belonging  to  the  United  States,  re- 


Ixvi 


ceived  in  payment  of  five  per  cent,  bonds  of  the 
Funded  Loan  delivered  here  in  London. 

All  money  hereafter  received  for  future  delivery  of 
bonds  will  be  deposited  to  the  same  account. 

Herewith  I  hand  you  a  declaration  of  trust  signed 
by  me,  declaring  that  said  account  and  monies  belong 
to  the  United  States,  and  not  to  me  personally,  also 
the  deposit  book  and  a  book  of  blank  checks  num 
bered  from  35101  to  35150,  both  inclusive,  received 
from  said  Bank,  all  of  which  you  will  take  into  your 
custody  and  carefully  keep  in  one  of  the  iron  safes 
sent  here  from  the  Department,  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  books  are  kept. 

This  money  and  all  the  money  deposited  in  said 
Bank  on  the  account  aforesaid,  will  be  drawn  and 
used  only  in  accordance  with  the  orders  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  to  redeem  or  purchase  five 
twenty  bonds  and  matured  coupons,  or  such  other 
and  further  orders  as  he  may  make  in  relation 
thereto. 

When  money  is  to  be  drawn  to  pay  for  bonds  or 
coupons  it  must  be  drawn  only  by  filling  up  a  check 
from  the  book  of  checks  above  referred  to,  and  you 
will  open  an  account  in  which  you  will  enter  the 
amount  of  all  deposits,  the  number  and  amount  of 
each  check  drawn,  specifying  also  to  whom  the  same 
is  made  payable  and  on  what  account  it  is  drawn. 

The  checks  will  be  filled  up  by  Mr.  Prentiss  of  the 
Register's  Office,  who  will  place  his  check  mark  on 
the  upper  left  corner,  and  will  enter  the  same  in  the 
book.  You  will  then  carefully  examine  the  check, 
see  that  it  is  correctly  drawn  for  the  amount  actually 


Ixvii 

payable  for  bonds  or  coupons  received,  and  properly 
recorded;  and  you  will  when  found  correct,  place 
your  check  mark  on  the  right  hand  upper  corner 
before  the  same  is  signed  by  me.  All  checks  will  be 
signed  by  me  with  my  full  name  as  Assistant  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury,  as  this  is  signed. 

WIUJAM  A.  RICHARDSON, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  U.  S.  A. 


BANK  OF  ENGLAND,  K.  C. 

^thfarfy,  1872. 
Hon.  W.  A.  RICHARDSON, 

Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States, 

41  Lombard  St. 
SIR: 

To  preclude  any  possible  misunderstanding  here 
after  as  to  the  character  of  the  Drawing  account 
opened  in  your  name,  I  am  instructed  by  the  Gov 
ernors  to  communicate  to  you  in  writing  that,  in  con 
formity  with  the  rule  of  the  Bank,  the  account  is 
considered  a  personal  one ;  that  the  Governors  have 
admitted  the  words  appended  to  your  name  merely 
as  an  honorary  designation ;  and  that  the  Bank  take 
no  cognizance  of,  or  responsibility  with  reference  to 
the  real  ownership,  or  intended  application  of  the 
sums  deposited  to  the  credit  of  the  account. 
I  am, 

Sir, 
Your  obedient  Servant, 

GEORGE  FORBES, 

Chief  Cashier. 


Ixviii 


41  LOMBARD  ST. 

IvONDON,  ENG. 
January  15,  1872, 
GKORGK  IVYALI,,  Esq. 

Governor  of  the  Bank  of  England. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Referring  to  the  several  conversations  which  I 
have  had  with  you,  and  with  your  principal  cashier 
Mr.  Forbes,  relative  to  the  manner  and  form  of  keep 
ing  the  account  which  I  desire  to  have  in  the  Bank, 
I  beg  leave  to  renew  in  writing  my  request  hereto 
fore  made  to  you  orally,  that  the  account  of  money 
deposited  by  me  may  stand  in  the  name  of  Hon. 
George  S.  Boutwell,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  U. 
S.  A.,  and  myself,  Assistant  Secretary,  jointly  and 
severally,  so  as  to  be  subject  to  the  several  draft  of 
either,  and  of  the  survivor,  in  case  of  the  death  of 
either  one. 

I  suppose  I  must  regard  the  letter  of  Mr.  Forbes 
to  me,  dated  January  4,  1872,  and  written  under 
instructions  from  the  Governors  of  the  Bank  as  ex 
pressing  your  final  conclusion  that  the  account,  in 
whatever  form  it  may  be  kept,  must  be  considered 
a  personal  one. 

You  know  my  anxiety  to  have  my  deposits  received 
by  the  Bank  and  entered  in  such  way  that  in  case  of 
my  death,  the  balance  may  be  drawn  at  once  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  or  some  other  Officer  of 
the  Government,  and  although  you  are  unwilling  to 
regard  the  account  as  an  official  one,  I  hope  that  on 
further  consideration  you  will  allow  it  to  be  opened 


Ixix 

iii  the  name  of  Mr.  Boutwell  and  myself  jointly  and 
severally  as  above  stated. 
I  am  Sir, 

Your  obe'd't  Servant, 

WIUJAM  A.  RICHARDSON, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the 

United  States  Treasury  Dept. 


[COPY] 
BANK  OF  ENGLAND  K.  C. 

i  jth  January,  1872. 
Hon.  W.  A.  RICHARDSON, 

Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States, 

41,  Lombard  St. 
SIR  : 

I  am  directed  by  the  Governor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  i5th  hist.,  requesting 
that  the  account  of  money  deposited  by  you  in  the 
Bank  may  stand  in  the  name  of  the  Hon.  George  S. 
Boutwell,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  U.  S.  A.,  and 
yourself,  the  Assistant  Secretary,  jointly  and  sev 
erally,  so  as  to  be  subject  to  the  several  draft  of 
either,  and  of  the  survivor,  in  case  of  death  of  either 
one. 

I  am  to  inform  you  that  the  Bank  is  prepared  to 
open  an  account  in  this  form,  as  a  personal  account; 
but  it  is  essential  that  Mr.  Boutwell  should  join  in 
the  request,  and  concur  in  the  conditions  proposed, 
before  either  party  can  in  that  case  dra^v  upon  the 
account.  I  am  Sir, 

Your  Obd't  Servant, 
GKORGK  FORBKS, 

Chief  Cashier. 


XX 


DEGREES,    COMMISSIONS,   ETC.,  HELD   BY 
WILLIAM  ADAMS   RICHARDSON. 

A  striking  proof  of  the  busy  life  led  by  Chief  Justice 
Richardson,  is  afforded  by  a  glance  at  the  following 
list  of  honors  conferred  on  him,  of  official  positions 
that  he  from  time  time  held,  and  of  the  promotions 
that  he  earned.* 

It  may  attract  attention  that  the  promotion  from 
a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Claims  to  be  Chief  Justice  of 
that  Court  was  his  fifth  appointment  as  judge  for 
life,  viz. :  i,  Judge  of  Probate  for  the  County  of  Mid 
dlesex,  1856;  2,  Judge  of  Probate  and  Insolvency 
for  the  same  County,  1858  ;  3,  Judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Massachusetts  (declined),  1869;  4,  Judge  of 
the  United  States  Court  of  Claims,  1874;  Chief  Jus 
tice  of  that  Court. 

Perhaps  in  States  where  the  elections  are  for  a 
short  term,  a  judge  may  have  had  five,  or  even  more, 
commissions;  but  five  life  commissions  must  be 
rare. 

*It  is  proper  to  say  that  the  list  is  taken  from  a  rough 
draft  found  among  the  papers  of  the  distinguished  Chief 
Justice.  That  he  should  have  taken  pains  to  jot  down  these 
statistics  is  eminently  characteristic  of  the  man.  He  liked 
(in  fact  it  was  almost  a  passion  with  him)  to  arrange  and 
classify,  and  to  present  in  clear  and  intelligible  form,  the 
"upshot  of  the  whole  matter." 


Ixxi 


COLLEGIATE. 


1843.  Bachelor  of  Arts.     Harvard  College. 
1846.  Bachelor  of  Laws. 

Master  of  Arts. 
1873.  Doctor  of  Laws.     Columbia  University,  D.  C. 

1 88 1.  "       "       "         Georgetown  College,  D.  C. 

1882.  "       "       "         Howard  University,  D.  C. 
1886.       "       "       "         Dartmouth  College. 

LAW. 

1846.  Admission  to  Bar  in  Massachusetts. 

1869.  Admission  to  Bar,  Supreme  Court  U.  S. 
1855.  Commission  to  revise  the  Statutes  of  Massa 
chusetts. 

1859.  Act  of  Legislature  of  Mass.,  appointing  com 
missioners  to  edit  the  General  Statutes. 

1866.  Commission  as  to  laws  authorizing  formation 
of  corporations  with  limited  liabilities. 

1870.  Commission  concerning  Hingham  and  Quincy 

Turnpike  and  Bridges. 

1880.  Act  of  Congress  authorized  editing  and  pub 
lishing  a  Supplement  to  the  Revised  Stat 
utes  of  the  United  States. 

1882.  Appointment  to  edit  Vol.  18,  Court  of  Claims 
Reports. 

1 890.  Act  of  Congress  continuing  publication  of  Sup 
plement  to  Revised  Statutes. 

1893.  Act  of  Congress  continuing  same  annually. 

POLITICAL. 

1849.  Member  of  Common  Council,  Lowell,  Mass. 


Ixxii 

1852.  Member  and  President  of  Common  Council, 

Lowell,  Mass. 

1853.  Member  and  President  of  Common  Council, 

Lowell,  Mass. 

1869.  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  (U.  S.) 
Acting  Secretary,  April  23,  1869,  in  absence 

of  Secretary. 

Acting  Secretary,  June  8,  1869,  until  other 
wise  ordered. 

Acting  Secretary,  April  16,  1869,  until  other 
wise  ordered. 

1870.  Acting  Attorney-General,  Sept.  8,  1870. 
1873.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  (U.  S.) 

JUDICIAL.     (AU,  FOR  UFE.) 

1856.  Judge  of  Probate  for  Middlesex  County,  Mass. 
Last  to  hold  the  office. 

1858.  Judge  of  Probate  and  Insolvency  for  Middle 
sex  County,  Mass.  First  to  hold  the  office. 

1869.  Associate  Justice  Superior  Court  of  Massachu 
setts  (declined). 

1873.  Judge  of  Court  of  Claims  (U.  S.) 

1885.  Chief  Justice  Court  of  Claims  (U.  S.) 

JUSTICE  OF  PEACE,    ETC. 

1847.  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Middlesex  County, 
Mass.,  for  seven  years. 

1853.  Notary  Public  for  Middlesex  County,  Mass., 

for  seven  years. 

1854.  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Middlesex  County, 

Mass.,  for  seven  years. 


Ixxiii 

1856.  Justice  of  Peace  and  Quorum  within  all  the 

counties  of  Massachusetts  for  seven  years. 
1863.  Same. 
1870. 
1877.       " 

MIUTIA  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

1846.  Judge  Advocate  of  Second  Division  with  rank 

of  Major. 
1850.  Aid  deCamp  to  the  Commander  in  Chief  with 

the  rank  of  Lieutenant  Colonel. 

SOCIETIES,    ETC. 

1852.   Member  of  Middlesex  Mechanics  Association, 
I/ywell,  Mass. 

1857.  Member  of  New  England  Historic  Genealogi 

cal  Society,  Boston,  Mass. 
1863.  Trustee  of  I^awrence  Academy  (Groton,  Mass.) 

1872.  Member  of  Washington  National  Monument 

Association  (Washington,  D.  C.) 

1873.  Honorary    Vice-President   of  New   England 

Historic  Genealogical  Society. 
Honorary  Member  of  Middlesex   Mechanics 
Association,  I/well,  Mass. 

1874.  Honorary  Member  of  Nashua  Historical  So 

ciety,  Nashua,  New  Hampshire. 
Trustee  of  Howard  University,  Washington, 

D.  C. 
1 88 1.  Trustee  of  All  Souls  Church,  Washington,  for 

three  years. 
1886.  Trustee  of  All  Souls  Church,  Washington,  for 

three  years. 


Ixxiv 

1886.  Fellow  of  American  Geographical  Society. 

1879.  Member  of  Royal  Historical  Society  (London, 

Rag.) 

1880.  Member  of  Society  of  Antiquities  (Edinburgh, 

Scotland.) 

Honorary  Member  of  New  Hampshire  Histor 
ical  Society. 

1889.  Corresponding  member  of  Maine  Historical 

Society. 

1890.  Honorary  and  Corresponding  Member  of  Old 

Residents'  Historical  Association  (Lowell, 
Mass.) 

1891.  Member  of  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  American 

Revolution  (D.  C.) 
Member  of  Society  of  Sons  of  the  Revolution 

(Mass.) 

1893.  Honorary  Member  of  New  England  Historic 
Genealogical  Society. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

1863.  Overseer  of  Harvard  College,  elected  for  six 
years  by  Legislature  of  Massachusetts. 

1869.  Overseer  of  Harvard  College,  elected  by  the 
Alumni  for  six  years. 

1883.  Commission  to  test  and  examine  the  fineness 
and  weight  of  coin  at  the  several  mints, 
appointed  by  President  Arthur. 

Of  many  other  appointments,  such  as  Prof,  of 
Law  in  Georgetown  University,  President  of  Bank, 
Director  in  Banks  and  Manufacturing  Companies, 
etc.,  notice  was  given  orally  only. 


Ixocv 


MASONIC. 

1853.  Member  of  Ancient   York    Lodge,    Lowell, 
Mass. 

1857.  Member  of  Mount  Horeb,  Royal  Arch  Chap 
ter,  Lowell,  Mass. 

Member  of  Boston  Encampment  of  Knights 
Templar,  Boston,  Mass. 

1866.  Sovereign  Grand  Inspector  General  of  the 
33d  Degree,  etc.,  etc. 

1882.  Commission  of  enquiry  into  the  condition  of 
Masonic  Order  abroad  from  Superior  Coun 
cil  of  Sovereign  Grand  Inspectors  General 
of  the  33d  and  last  degree,  of  Northern 
Masonic  Jurisdiction  (U.  S.) 

PASSPORTS,    ETC. 

1865.  Passports  with  numerous  "vises." 
1867. 

1871.          "         as  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury. 

' '         ' '   Bearer  of  Dispatches. 

1875.          "         "  Judge  of  Court  of  Claims  with 

letter  of  introduction  from  President  Grant. 

Japanese  passport  to  travel  in  interior  of  the 

country  (with  various  documents  relating 

to  the  journey). 

1890.  Passport  as  Chief  Justice   Court  of  Claims, 
with  letter  of  introduction  from  Secretary 
Elaine. 
1865.  Circular  letter  in  Latin  from  Bishop  of  Boston. 

Letter  of  presentation  to  the  Pope. 
1882.  Circular  letter   to  Historical   Societies  from 
New  England  Hist.  Genealogical  Society, 
Boston. 


Ixxvi 


A  PARTIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THK  PUB 
LISHED  WRITINGS  OF  WILLIAM 
ADAMS   RICHARDSON. 


I.  Banking  Laws  of  Massachusetts  :  Being  a  com 
pilation  of  all  the  General  Statutes  of  the  Common 
wealth,  now  in  force,  relating  to  banks,  banking  and 
savings  institutions,  with  notes,  references  to  altera 
tions  in  the  statutes,  abstracts  of  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Judicial  Court  and  quotations  from  reports 
of  the  bank  commissioners.     By  William  A.  Rich 
ardson,  counsellor  at  law.     Lowell :   Merritt  &  Met- 
calf;  Boston:  Sanborn,  Carter  &  Bazin.    1855.    8vo. 
pp.  82. 

II.  Practical  Information  Concerning  the  Public 
Debt  of  the  United  States  with  the  National  Bank 
ing  Laws  for  Banks,  Bankers,  Brokers,  Bank  Direc 
tors   and  Investors.      By  William   A.   Richardson, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.     Washington, 
D.  C.:  W.  H.  and  O.  H.  Morrison,  Law  Publishers 
and  Booksellers.    1872.    8vo.    pp.  186.    [Second  edi-" 
tion  was  published  in  1873.] 

III.  Annual  Report  of  the  State  of  the  Finances  to 
the  Forty-Third  Congress,  First  Session,  December 
i,    1873,   by  William  A.  Richardson,  Secretary   of 
the  Treasury.     Washington :  Government  Printing 
Office.     1873.     pp.  xxxix. 

IV.  Letter,   December   23,    1881,    to   Hon.  John 
Sherman,  United  States  Senator,  in  relation  to  the 
best  method  of  determining  controverted  questions  in 
customs-revenue  cases.    Washington,  1881.    pp.  5. 


Ixxmi 

V.  Trials  in  Customs-Revenue  Cases.     No  date, 
pp.  6. 

Note. — This  was  written  by  William  A.  Richard 
son  and  adopted  by  Mr.  Lawrence,  First  Comptroller 
of  the  Treasury. 

VI.  Receipt  and  Investment  of  the  Geneva  Award 
Money.     Letter  of  William  A.  Richardson,  June  22, 
1882.     pp.  7.     Reprinted  from  The  Geneva  Award 
Act,  with  notes  and  references  to  Decisions  of  the 
Court   of  Commissioners   of  Alabama   Claims,    by 
Frank  W.  Hackett,  of  the  Washington    (D.  C.)  Bar. 
Boston:  Little,  Brown,  &  Company.     1882. 

VII.  History,  Jurisdiction   and   Practice  of    the 
Court  of  Claims  (United   States)    by   William   A. 
Richardson,    LL.D.,   Chief  Justice   of   the    Court. 
Washington:  Government  Printing   Office.      1883. 
pp.  34.     Second  Edition,  June,  1885. 

VIII.  Harvard  College.    Class  of  1843.    Memora 
bilia.     1883.     "Time  conies  stealing  on  by  night 
and  day."  Shakespeare.     Prepared  by  William  A. 
Richardson,   Class  Secretary.      Printed  for  the  use 
of  the  Class,  June  27,  1883.     pp.  37. 

IX.  Harvard  College  Alumni  who  have  held  the 
Official  Positions  named.     By  William  A.  Richard 
son,  LL.D.,  Chief  Justice  of  Court  of  Claims  (U.  S.) 
Washington,  D.  C.     Reprinted  from  the  New  Kng- 
land  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register  for  July, 
1887.     pp.  7. 

X.  Report  of  Special  Committee,  on  the  Relief  of 
Congress  from  Private  Legislation,  to  the  American 
Bar  Association  at  its  Tenth  Annual  Meeting,  at 
Saratoga  Springs,  New  York,  August,  1887.     (Re 
printed  from  the  transactions  of  the  Meeting.)    Phil 
adelphia  :  T.  &  J.  W.  Johnson  &  Co.    1887.    pp.  12. 

Note. — On  the  copy  found  among  the  papers  of 
the  Chief  Justice,  in  his  handwriting,  is  inscribed : 


Ixxviii 

"Written  for  the  Committee  by  W.  A.  R.,  who  also 
wrote  the  original  Senate  Bill.  But  what  is  erased 
on  page  6  was  not  by  W.  A.  R.,  but  was  interlined 
after  he  wrote  the  report,  and  is  erroneous."  The 
words  erased  are :  ' '  also  of  all  damages  by  vessels 
of  the  United  States  done  by  collision." 

XI.  Harvard  College  Alumni  who  have  received 
the  Honorary  Degrees  named.    By  the  Hon.  William 
A.  Richardson,  LL/.D.,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of 
Claims,  Washington,   D.  C.      Reprinted   from   the 
New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register 
for  April,  1889.     pp.  12. 

XII.  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  or  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  ? 
By  the  Hon.  William  A.  Richardson,  LL.D.,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  Washington,  D.  C. 
The  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Reg 
ister,  for  July,  1895.     pp.  4. 

XIII.  Harvard  University.  College  Presidents  and 
the  Election  of  Messrs.  Quincy  and  Eliot.     By  the 
Hon.  Wm.  A.  Richardson,   (H.  U.,   1843)  IJLD., 
Chief  Justice  Court  of  Claims.    University  Magazine, 
Dec.,  1891.  Reprinted  in  the  New  England  Historical 
and  Genealogical  Register  for  January,  1895.   pp.  6. 


\*The  list,  it  will  be  seen,  does  not  include  (i)  Report 
as  Commissioner  to  revise  the  Statutes  of  Massachusetts  ; 
(2)  Notes,  etc.,  to  General  Statutes  of  that  State,  1860;  (3) 
Notes,  etc.,  in  twenty-two  annual  volumes  of  Statutes  of  Mass 
achusetts;  (4)  Notes,  etc.,  to  Supplements  to  the  Revised 
Statutes  of  the  United  States. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Roman  Numerals  Refer  to  Pages  of  the  APPENDIX. 

PAGE. 

Abrams xxxix 

Adams,  Benjamin 16 

Hannah 17 

Henry 16 

Joseph 16 

Mary 16 

Samuel 16 

William   . 16 

William  Henry 27 

Andre",  Major 16 

Andrew,  John  A 30 

Anthony 96 

Archibald 85 

Arthur,  Chester  A 114 

Babcock,  O.  E 100 

Bailey,  Isaac  H 94 

Bancroft,  J.  Franklin 2,  14, 16,  17,  22 

Banks,  N.  P 47,  52 

Bazin Ixxvi 

Bedell,  Timothy 16 

Belknap,  William  W 77 

Bell,  Charles  Henry 12 

Bigelow,  George  Tyler 46,  142 

Bigelow,  John  ,P 64,  ixiii,  Ixv 

Binney,  Horace 11 

Bliss 85 

Bond,  Samuel  K 126 

Boody 96 


Boutwell,  George  S  .   .    .      55,  58,  60,  63,  66,  75,  76,  78,  79,  89, 

112-114,    125,  135,  137,  iv,  xii, 

xxxix,  xliii-1,  Hi,  Iviii,  Ixviii, 
Ixix. 

Bowen,  E.  W Ixv 

Briggs,  George  N 33 

Bristow,  Benjamin  H 104 

Brooks,  George  M 43 

Uncle 18 

Brown      Ixxvii 

Bundy,J.  M 96 

Burnham,  George  P .  43 

Butler,  Benjamin  F 43 

Clarissa 23 

Butterfield,  Abiah  C 15 

Asa 15 

Charles 14 

Fred 96 

Carter Ixxvi 

Cecil,  George 96 

Chancy,  John  C xxvii-xxix 

Chase,  John  C 20 

Salmon  P 58 

Cilley,  Joseph 10 

Cisco,  John  J 77 

Claflin,  H.  B 94,96 

William 56 

Clews,  Henry 77,  94 

Coburn,  Abiah 15 

Colburn,  Elizabeth 8 

Conkling,  Roscoe 89 

Cooke,  Jay 62,  63,  85,  87,  89,  Ixiii 

Cotton,  John  B xiv-xxii 

Creswell,  John  J 77 

Cummings,  W.  B 18 

Dana,  Charles  A 26 

Samuel 11, 14 

Davis,  John 106, 115, 123,  xl 

4 


Davis,  J.  C.  Bancroft 106, 123, 125,  xl 

Rev.Mr 9 

Delano,  Columbus 77 

Dennie,  Mr 9 

Dodge,  Joshua  E. 125,  iii,  iv,  xl,  xli 

Douglass,  John  W iv,  xii-xiii 

Drake,  Charles  D.     . 106, 114, 115,  xiii 

Drexel      85 

Eliot,  Charles  W xlv,  Ixxviii 

Samuel 22 

Farwell,  John 14 

Fay,  Samuel  Phillips  Prescott 42 

Fish,  Hamilton 77,85,97 

Fisk,  James,  Jr 70 

Fitzhugh 31 

Forbes,  George Ixvii,  Ixix 

French,  Edwin  F 20 

Henry  F 20 

Frothingham,  Octavius  B 26 

Fuller 30 

Arthur  B 26 

Gardner,  Henry  J 36,  42,  49,  52 

Gilchrist,  John  J 47 

Gould,  Jay 70 

Grant,  U.  S 54,56,59,76,78,79,90-92,95,100,101, 

137,  xlvii,  liii,  Ixxv. 

Greenhalge,  Frederick  T.  .   . 43 

Greenleaf,  Simon 30 

Hackett,  Frank  W 124,  iv,  Ixxvii 

Hall     96 

Thomas  B 27 

Harper 96 

Herrick,  Horace       23 

Hildredth,  Abel  F 19 

Hill,  Thomas 26 

Hinckley,  Robert 143 

Hitchcock  .  xxv 


Hoar,  E.  Rockwood 43 

Joseph 24 

Hodges xxv 

Holt,  Sarah 32 

Hopkins,  Archibald iv 

Hoyt 96 

Howry,  Charles  B 106,  xxxvi-xxxix 

Humphrey,  Samuel  F 20 

Hunt,  William  H 106 

Hutchinson,  Abigail 9 

Anne 4 

Thomas 9 

Jackson,  Andrew 20,  21 

Johnson      xxv 

Professor .    .    .    ,  28 

Reverdy 93, 94 

J.W Ixxvii 

T Ixxvii 

Kennedy 81 

Robert  Lenox 94 

Kidder,  Frederick 10 

King,  George  A 124,  iv,  xxiii-xxvi,  xxxix 

William  B 138,  xxx-xxxv 

Kingman,  John  W 26 

Kingsland,  A 96 

D 96 

Lawrence 24 

William Ixxvii 

Leavitt,  E.  Bradford 124 

Lincoln,  Abraham 53 

Little,  Charles  C Ixxvii 

Lockwood,  Belva  A.  * ,  .  xi 

Loring,  Edward  G 47-50,52,106 

John  A .  .'..  27 

Lowell,  John ,  26 

Lund,  Hannah 16 

J.T .  17 

Lyall,  George Ixviii 


Lyman,  Samuel  F 45 

Lynde,  A.  V 43 

MacGrotty,  Edwin  B * 86 

Magruder,  Alexander  F 31,32,111 

Alexander  Richardson 32 

Isabella  Richardson 32 

Isabella  Anna 31,  111,  123 

William  Richardson 31 

Marston,  Anna  Maria 31 

Jonathan 32 

Sarah  Holt 31 

Maury,  William  A 124,  iv,  vii-x 

McCaimnon,  Joseph  J 124 

McCullough Ixiii 

McKnight xxv 

Meigs xxxiv 

Merchant,  Sarah 9,  10 

William 9 

Merritt Ixxvi 

Metcalf Ixxvi 

Morgan 77,85 

Edwin  S 77 

Morrill,  Lot 92 

Morris,  Martin  F 125,  xl 

Morrison,  O.  H .  Ixxvi 

W.  H Ixxvi 

Morse,  Alexander  Porter iv 

Morton,  L.  P 85 

Nott,  Charles  C 106,  124,  xl 

O'Connor,  Charles xv,  xviii,  xxxv 

Opdycke,  George  P 94,96 

Orton,  William 94 

Parish,  Mercy 7 

Parker,  Joel 36,38 

Payne 96 

Peake 96 

Peck,  Ebenezer 106 

7 


Peelle,  Stanton  J 106,  123,  xl 

Peet 96 

Perkins,  Charles  C 26 

George  W 96 

Phillips,  Wendell     48 

Pinkerton,  John  M 20 

Plumer,  William 11 

Post 96 

Prentiss Ixiii,  Ixvi 

Quincy,  Josiah Ixxviii 

Richardson,  Anna  M 31,  32,  81, 109,  110 

Daniel 9-11, 13-16 

DanielS .13,16,19,30,31,33 

Elizabeth 9 

Elizabeth  A 16 

Ezekiel 3,  5,  6 

George  Francis 17,  33 

James 6 

John 16 

Josiah 6,  7,  8, 16 

Mary  Adam 16 

Mercy 8 

Samuel 4,  5 

Samuel  Mather 11,13 

Susannah 3,  6 

Thomas 4,  5 

William 8,  9 

William  Merchant .  .  8,  9, 14 

Richmond,  Andrew  A 36,  37 

Robeson,  George  M 77 

W.  H iv 

Roby,  Hannah 16 

Mary 16 

William 16 

Russell,  John  J .........  28 

Sanborn Ixxvi 

Sanger,  George  P 37 


Sargent,  Horace  Binney     26,  28 

Schofield,  Glenni  W 106 

Scott,  William  L 94,96 

Sears,  Mary 

Seligman 

Sherman,  John Ixxvi 

William  T xlvii 

Smith,  Jeremiah 

Sprague 96 

E.  Carlton 26, 140 

Stagg 143 

Staples,  Thomas  0 

Stevens,  Aaron  F 20 

Stewart,  A.  T 55 

Stone,  Eben  F 26,  50,  51 

Z.E 21 

Story,  Joseph 30,  53 

Stuart,  F.  E 143 

Sullivan,  John 10 

Sutton, 

Sweetser,  Theodore  H 43 

Thayer,  Alexander  W 26 

Thornton,  Sir  Edward 85 

Tyng,  Edward 1 

Mary 

Underwood,  Remembrance 6 

Vail 94 

Vanderbilt,  Cornelius      

VanVolkenburgh,  P 96 

Vinton,  John  Adams 5 

Walker,  Joseph  B 20 

Warren,  John  Collins 11 

George  L Ixv 

Washburn,  Emory 52 

William  B 75 

Webster,  Daniel ...  53 

Weldon,  Lawrence 106, 123, 125,  xl,  1-lvii 


Wells,  John 
Wheelwright,  John 
White,  Daniel  Appleton 

Nathaniel  G.    . 
Whittemore 
Williams,  George  H 
Wilson,  Henry 
Winslow,  Sarah  Tyng 
Winthrop,  John 


45 

4,  5 
11 
20 
96 

77,  137 

76,  97 

2 

3 


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